


Blood and Shadows

by Serriya (Keolah)



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Arranged Marriage, Drama, Elves, F/M, Infidelity, Interracial Relationship, Love Triangles, Minor Character Death, Pregnancy, Romance, Shamanism, Shapeshifting, Vampire Slayer(s), Vampires, Violence, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2009-08-10
Updated: 2010-06-03
Packaged: 2017-11-13 09:05:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 46,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/501799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keolah/pseuds/Serriya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the world of Lezaria, Telkarnith Chelseer befriends a werewolf and finds his family threatened by a vampire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Fevered Winter

The howling wind churned up the snowflakes into a blizzard, threatening to bury the village of Wishingsdale under its weight. In the largest house, on the edge of the village, illness had set in, as it had in many of the households in the small town. The youngest, a little girl of seven, had a terrible cough that would not go away, but the others were not faring much better.

"Mother, when are we going to get better?" asked Telkarnith. "When is the snow going to go away? It's already April, isn't it?"

"I don't know," answered Tevriel. "Your father is completely bedridden. I'm worried about him and I don't know if he's going to make it, and your sister is very weak as well. Kior seems to be doing alright, though. A healer was sent for weeks ago, but travelling through the snows must be difficult. I hope they arrive soon."

"A healer?" Telkarnith wondered with interest. "Do you mean a Hlayan witch-doctor?"

"Don't discount the Hlayans, young man," Tevriel chided him gently. "Their rituals and tongue may seem strange to you, but they understand more than most, and the spirits listen to them."

"I don't know about any spirits, but if it'll help my father and little Kay, I can hardly complain."

"Good," Tevriel said. "Now eat your broth and get some rest. You're doing well yourself, but you still need to conserve your strength and recover." She clutched up her patched green dress in her hands and swept out of the room.

"Yes, Mother," Telkarnith murmured as the door swung shut behind her. He sipped his broth quietly and curled up next to the window, thinking that it must be some sort of magic that kept the bitter cold from penetrating the fragile-looking glass. The snow reached all the way up to the base of the window and covered the landscape outside in a silent white blanket.

Much as he wouldn't admit so aloud, he had to hope that his father would be alright. He was only thirteen years old, and wasn't sure if he was ready yet to be the man of the house. In elder days, elves were traditionally considered adult at the age of thirteen, but Telkarnith wasn't sure how they could be prepared for the responsibility. His hands were too small yet to bear his father's sword.

Shaking his head with a sigh and setting aside his grim thoughts, Telkarnith drained his bowl of broth and curled up in bed again, slowly drifting off into a fevered, delirious sleep. In his dreams, he thought he heard his sister crying, and brief flashes of images that made no sense. Lightning on the green moon. A giant wolf in the snow. A spinning purple wheel. A clown in a rowboat. He could almost be grateful when he slowly woke to hear a commotion of some sort outside his room.

Coughing and shivering a bit involuntarily, Telkarnith crawled out of bed and headed for the living room, trying to see what was going on. His mother was there, speaking with a dark-skinned woman he hadn't seen before, wearing a heavy robe and carrying a number of strange fetishes. "Ah, here comes one of the young ones," the stranger said. "Come closer, my dear. I can help you. Do not fear passing your illness on to me. I wear a talisman to ward against sickness and disease."

"Are you the witch-doctor?" Telkarnith said, curiously coming close and examining her fetishes. Little bits of bone, feathers, and carved stones made up most of them. He had to wonder what they all were for.

"I am a shaman, young one. I have come to help. Once your family has been gathered, I will perform a ritual of purification over them. Here, you will need these." The shaman pulled out a twine necklace with several objects attached to it, including what appeared to be a clove of garlic.

"What's this for?" Telkarnith wondered, peering at it a bit before slipping it around his neck.

"This will assist in channeling the power of the spirits in my ritual," the shaman explained. "As well as to protect you from undesirable influences."

"Even the garlic?"

"That is to ward off vampires, of course. You never know where you might find them. They will step through the shadows and slip into your house to drink of your blood and your very soul, if you are not wary."

"Alright," Telkarnith said a bit dubiously. He hadn't seen a vampire his entire life, nor heard of any around here, but if she said they were a potential danger, he'd have to take her word on it.

"Go gather the others, Telkarnith," Tevriel said. "I have to help prepare for the ritual."

Telkarnith nodded and headed off down the hallway, poking his head into Kior's room and sending him on his way. Kaymellor, however, wasn't so well off. She lay in her bed, scarcely breathing except to cough and hack, and didn't even seem aware of his presence.

"Kay? Can you walk? Can you hear me?" he asked quietly, going up to her and trying to get her attention futilely. "Kaymellor?" He sighed softly, gathering her up in his arms. She was a slight thing, and didn't weigh very much to begin with, but the fever had taken a lot out of her. Stumbling a little, he carried her back to the living room and lay her gently down on the couch.

"Oh my," the shaman said, turning from painting Kior's face to examine the girl. "This one does not look good at all. I'm not certain that my abilities can still help her. She might be too far gone already. But I will do my best nonetheless."

Telkarnith said nothing, his face stoic and grim as he turned from the room to get his father. Zarnith Chelseer, the Third, was tossing and turning in his sleep, mumbling to himself incoherently when Telkarnith came in. His sword lay sheathed at the foot of the bed, never far from his side. "Father?" Telkarnith said tentatively as he approached the man.

It took a bit of doing to get his attention, the man grumbling and muttering so much that Telkarnith wasn't at first sure that he knew the boy was there. "Telkarnith." Zarnith finally opened his eyes and fixed them on him. "Get me some broth, son, would you?"

"Father, there's a healer here," Telkarnith explained. "She wants to perform some ritual to cure us."

"Bah," Zarnith said, slumping back into the pillows. "Damned witch-doctors and their voodoo. Go play along if you like, but I won't have anything to do with that malarkey."

"But what if it actually works?" Telkarnith protested. "It certainly couldn't hurt, could it?"

"Go on and have fun, but don't expect any real results," Zarnith scoffed. "And bring me some broth when you're done."

Telkarnith sighed and turned for the door, knowing well his father's stubbornness and that he wouldn't be budged by further arguing once he was set on something. Back in the living room, the shaman was finishing up painting blue and green markings on Kaymellor's face. His sister was still mostly unconscious and clearly unaware of what was going on. He had never seen her quite this bad before, but she had been steadily worsening over the course of the illness.

"Where's Zarnith?" Tevriel wondered, frowning. Her facial expressions contorted the colorful markings.

"He wouldn't come," Telkarnith told her.

"Bah, that stubborn man," Tevriel snorted, turning toward the shaman. "Can't we just drag him in here and do it anyway? I doubt he's still strong enough to really refuse."

The shaman shook her head sadly and turned to dabbing paint onto Telkarnith's face with her fingers. "I'm afraid it doesn't work that way, my dear. If there is someone in the circle whose spirit is actively resisting it and refusing to cooperate, not only will it not help them, but it will prevent it from working for the others as well."

"What about Kaymellor?" Tevriel asked. "I don't think she even realizes what's happening."

"On a conscious level, she does not, but I sense that her spirit is in dire need and knows that her time is short. Although her body lays here unawares, her spirit will join hands with ours and sing in time with our song. Are we ready to begin?" she said as she finished marking Telkarnith's face.

"I'd say I would not be ready without Zarnith, but for Kaymellor's sake, I would not delay any further to try to convince him." Tevriel sighed and shook her head faintly.

"Very well," the shaman said. "Take your places in the circle. Kneel, and relax. Close your eyes and let your spirit guide you."

Telkarnith did as he was bidden and knelt across from his mother, trying to relax and let go of some of his tension and worry as he let his eyes slide shut. Unlike his father, he was more curious about the strange Hlayan magic than distrustful and scornful of it. He didn't really see himself trying to become a shaman when he grew up, but he did want to learn more about it if he could.

Once everyone was in place, the shaman settled in and began to chant softly in the Hlayan tongue. Telkarnith picked up a whiff of a strange odor, perhaps incense. In his mind's eye, he saw a whirl of images flicker past, or perhaps it was merely his imagination as his mind wandered into a dreamlike state. There was Kaymellor, healthy and whole, smiling and vibrant as she had ever been. The others circled around as well, his mother, Kior, and the shaman, but his father was still absent. He could not understand the shaman's words, and they drifted into a melodic counterpoint on the edge of his awareness, like soft vocal music playing in the distance.

He could not later describe what he had seen in detail as waves of light and color enveloped him, the world seeming far more alive than it had ever been, as if he were getting the briefest glimpse into the true world, of which that which was generally called "reality" was merely a shadow. It was impossible to be afraid or nervous with the sense of unbroken peace and tranquillity embracing him. He had the distinct sense after a few moments that the four of them were not alone, as he sensed the presence of others. Perhaps animals of some sort, he thought from a glimpse of their shapes.

"Some will remain and some will move on," murmured an unfamiliar voice he could not identify.

"One will be great in war and of blade," said a second strange voice. "One will be great in house and in family."

He could not be certain which of the images was speaking, or even that they were speaking Kalorese at all, but he understood their words and meaning nonetheless. They had turned and were circling about Kaymellor like wisps of silvery smoke with vague faces, paws, and wings appearing throughout it.

"I'm not afraid," Kaymellor murmured. "I love you mother, brothers. Perhaps we will meet again in another life."

"Kaymellor?" Telkarnith said in alarm. He was certain that he had actually said it aloud in his surprise and concern.

"Don't worry about me," she said. "It's how it is. They will take care of me now. Tell father I love him."

"Kaymellor!" he cried out.

"Goodbye, Telkarnith." Kaymellor smiled at him warmly one last time, before vanishing, her image wisping into smoke before finally fading entirely.

Distressed, Telkarnith hardly noticed when the chanting slowly ceased, and he dared to open his eyes again. He thought he was breathing more easily now, but a look over to the couch at his sister's silent form wrenched his heart. She'd finally found her own peace from the terrible cough and fever. One might think that she was merely asleep, but for the fact that she was not breathing.

"Kaymellor..." Telkarnith whispered, staring at her for a long moment before looking at the floor quietly.

"I am sorry," the shaman said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "I did not think I could save her. The illness had gone too far into her. She is at peace now. A brave soul, even to the end, and so young, too."

"There was nothing more that could be done," Tevriel murmured sadly. "I... I will have to tell Zarnith."

Kior started bawling, but Telkarnith remained silent. He wasn't sure if his eleven year old brother really understood what had just happened here, but he found that tears did not come himself. Not now. Perhaps later, when he really missed her, but now he could only be relieved that she was at rest.

"I will perform last rites for her if you wish when you are ready," the shaman offered. "But it would only be of comfort to those who yet live. Her spirit has already moved on."

"It can wait a bit," Tevriel said. "I must speak with my husband. There are others in the village who require your attention as well. If you would return here when you are done with the rest, it would be appreciated, though."

"As you wish," the shaman said, slowly going to gather up the implements of her trade to prepare to leave the premises.

"Telkarnith, why don't you go get you and your brother something to eat while I talk to your father?"

"Alright," Telkarnith said quietly, reaching over to squeeze Kior in assurance before turning to lead his younger brother off toward the kitchen.

"I'm not hungry," Kior muttered dejectedly as he sank into one of the seats by the table.

"Eat something anyway." There was a big pot of thin vegetable stew sitting over the fire being kept warm, and Telkarnith dished out bowls of it for himself and his brother. He was actually hungry for once, and didn't think that was quite enough, so he dug out some bread to go along with it. It was hard and tough, having been sitting around for a few days, but it was still good.

Kior dug into his stew and grabbed a bit of bread for himself as well, clearly hungrier than he claimed to be. They were quiet as they ate, not quite ready to talk about what had happened. They had hardly settled in to eat, however, when they heard shouting outside the kitchen.

"You let that witch-doctor place her curses upon this house?" Zarnith's voice boomed through the halls. "We are all doomed!"

Telkarnith thought his father must still be delirious. He hadn't seemed to think the woman had any real power before, and now he was blaming all misfortune upon her? He sighed softly and stared into his bowl as he ate slowly, trying to pretend that he didn't hear even as he listened as closely as he could.

"Zarnith, she helped us, really."

"At the cost of your souls?" Zarnith roared back. "You fool woman! You've doomed my heirs as well."

"I know it's just the fever talking. You don't really mean that. Why don't you try to get some rest? You aren't well."

"I told that boy to bring me some broth. Where is he?"

The kitchen door burst open and Zarnith stormed in, his eyes wild and his face flushed. Telkarnith tried to be small as he looked up in fright at the rabid man, not liking at all the way that his father looked at him.

"You boy," Zarnith barked, yanking out one of the chairs and dropping heavily into it. "Dish me up a bowl of that, and make it snappy."

"Yes, father," Telkarnith murmured, sliding out of his chair to grab another bowl for him.

"Honey, you should be in bed," Tevriel said, coming up behind Zarnith.

"Don't you honey me, woman," Zarnith snapped. "I know what you've been doing with the school teacher, too."

"Zarnith!" Tevriel gasped in shock, her eyes widening and looking positively scandalized.

"Go ahead and play innocent," Zarnith said, grabbing the spoon Telkarnith set before him with the bowl of soup and shakily trying to dish himself out some food. "I don't really care. Maybe this was all an attempt to cover it up. Maybe Kaymellor wasn't really my daughter after all. How long has it been going on, Tevriel? Tell me that."

"Zarnith, you shouldn't be saying things like this in front of the boys," Tevriel urged him quietly.

"Shouldn't I? Do they not deserve to know the truth as well?"

Kior started bawling anew, having forgotten all about his meal. Telkarnith stared into his own bowl, trying to pretend not to be there. He didn't know what she might or might not have been doing with the teacher, and wasn't sure how it was relevant anyway. The fever was clearly messing with his head.

"Zarnith, you're upsetting the boys."

"And they damned well should be," Zarnith snarled. He wound up spilling more stew than he actually got into his mouth. "You've sold yourself out, body and soul, and you've sold their souls as well, and for what? Life isn't worth that. I'd rather die pure. Search your soul, woman. Find what peace you can in it, because it may be all you have left."

Leaving his food half-eaten, he stumbled out of the kitchen again, continuing to ramble on incoherently to himself. Tevriel stood where she was, shaking a little as she stared at the door. Kior was still crying loudly, but Telkarnith was sure he didn't really understand what was going on here either, or what was really wrong with their father.

"Eat your soup, Kior," Telkarnith said aside to him quietly. "Don't mind father. He's just talking nonsense. The fever's made him crazy."

Kior slowly calmed down and returned to eating the remainder of his food half-heartedly. Still shaking a little, Tevriel got herself a bowl as well and ate quietly with them. Kior finished up his meal and slipped off out of the room, but Telkarnith remained, looking thoughtfully at his mother.

"What was father talking about?" Telkarnith asked quietly.

"Things he should not have been," Tevriel replied tersely, flushing a little herself, but not from fever. "Finish your soup and go back to bed. You need rest to recover your strength."

"Will you tell me sometime?" Telkarnith said with a bit of a sigh as he reached over to pop the last bit of bread in his mouth.

"Maybe later. Not now, please."

"Yes, mother." He drained the last of his soup in silence and shuffled off to his room again, but he didn't think he was going to sleep, not just yet anyway. He'd spent much of the last week asleep and really wasn't that tired anymore now. There was far too much on his mind, between the strange ritual, the passing of his baby sister, his father's crude behavior, and his mother's infidelity. If she'd just denied it, he would have just thought that his father was being paranoid and delusional, but the way she acted made him think there was some truth to it.

* * *

Zarnith did not come out of his room at all the following days, slipping deeper into fevered delirium. It was a week later that Tevriel sent Telkarnith to bring him another bowl of broth, when he found his father deep asleep, silent and unmoving. Quickly reminded of his sister's quiet repose, Telkarnith set aside the bowl and went to his father's side, nudging him gently and checking for breath, but the man was dead and gone.

"Father..." Telkarnith murmured softly, looking down at the once-strong man, the wasted body that severe illness had taken so much from. But there was no response, and no spirit to comfort him and reassure him not to worry. After sitting there quietly for several long minutes, he went and gathered up the bowl again and headed back for the kitchen.

Tevriel was in the kitchen busying herself with preparing what little food they had to stretch it as far as she could. "Wouldn't you father eat anything?" she asked upon seeing him with the bowl.

"No," Telkarnith said quietly. "He... he's gone."

Tevriel froze in mid-chop, staring off at nothing in particular. "First Kaymellor, and now Zarnith... I can only pray that this fevered winter does not claim anyone else."

"I'm sorry," Telkarnith murmured.

"I've feared it was coming, with how sick he was. But I didn't think it would be like this. I didn't think it would take his mind first before claiming his life."

"He was so angry," Telkarnith said softly.

"It was the fever talking," his mother insisted. "Zarnith wouldn't talk like that. He accused us of selling our souls, but acted as one possessed himself."

"But there was truth to what he was saying."

Tevriel sighed and absently scooped the chopped vegetables into the stew before slumping down into a seat next to him. "Telkarnith, you are young yet and there is much that you don't understand and probably won't for many years yet."

"Probably," Telkarnith conceded. "But I won't understand if you don't explain to me what you mean."

"We of the House Chelseer are considered prestigious, important, heirs of a great bloodline," Tevriel said, leaning back into her chair and staring off. "In a way, however, the humble humans of Wishingsdale are lucky. They can marry who they chose, and marry for love, and none will think them the worse for it."

"You didn't love my father?"

"I'm not saying that," Tevriel said, putting up a hand to still him. "I did not chose to marry him, but I did come to love him. He was a good man, and I will speak no ill of him. But were it my choice, I would not have chosen to marry my cousin, even removed as we were."

"So why did you do it, then?"

"The Heir of the Children of the Dragon's Blood is expected by birthright and tradition to wed another of the Dragon's Blood in order to produce a pureblooded heir. It would be unthinkable for a Chelseer to be allowed to marry a low-born human. As a Dragonblooded elf myself, and appropriately distantly related, I was selected to wed Zarnith the Third and bear his heirs."

"So, what, I'm expected to marry one of my own cousins too?" Telkarnith wondered. It was not the first he had heard of the idea, but the reality of it had not really hit home before.

"A distant cousin," Tevriel said. "Generally a member of the families Caldene, Kedaire, or Takhandomar, or a Chelseer of a more removed branch. An appropriate wife will be selected when you are of age if you do not find a suitable candidate yourself in that time. You're expected to at least sire your firstborn child with a Dragonblood. Any other bastard children, well, no one need know about them."

Telkarnith frowned. "So, was Kaymellor really my half-sister?"

"No," Tevriel said, shaking her head. "I was a good wife. I bore Zarnith three fine children, and did not shame him by presenting him another man's children as his own. He was a good husband, and he will be dearly missed."

She was right, he thought, in that he really didn't understand it right now. "So what will happen now?" he asked after a long moment.

"Now," Tevriel replied, letting out a heavy sigh. "Now I will call in the shaman to deliver their last rights, and pass along our family's sword to you. You are the patriarch of the Chelseer House now. You are the prince of the Dragon's Blood."

"Would father really appreciate it?" Telkarnith wondered. "He didn't seem to like the Hlayan and her magic much."

"It was just the fever. It made him say a lot of things he did not really mean, and he was quite upset about your sister's death and clearly blamed her for it, as well as me. But no one else here will be able to speak with his spirit and set him to rest. He did not die so peacefully as I might have wished."

* * *

"I grieve for your losses," the shaman said. "Where I had sought to bring life, I will now attempt to bring peace in death if I might."

She, Telkarnith, his mother and brother sat in a circle in the living room. The bodies had been removed; Telkarnith did not ask what had been done with them. He didn't really want to know. The heady smell of incense hung in the air, and he wondered just what sort of ritual she meant to do this time.

The shaman began to chant softly again in Hlayan, and Telkarnith let his eyes slide shut so that he might see more clearly with his mind's eyes. This time, only the shaman was with him, until a third figure slowly faded into view: his father. Zarnith felt miserable and unhappy, drained and dejected. He was no longer trying to fight or resist, but he still wasn't happy about it.

"So you've called me, witch-doctor. What do you want? Have I not suffered enough?"

"I can sense that you are restless, spirit. Left to yourself, you would haunt this place for years, unable to find peace. You are bound to this place and to those who were your family, and you do not know how to let go."

"And who are you to say otherwise? What I do with my afterlife is my own business, witch-doctor."

"Zarnith," Tevriel's voice said gently as her image coalesced nearby.

The ghost's expression softened a bit upon seeing her momentarily, but he quickly composed himself back into a scowl in her direction. "What do you have to say for yourself, woman?"

"Zarnith, I'm sorry. I apologize for my conduct. I never meant to cause you pain. You were never anything but a good and worthy husband, and a caring and dependable father. One could have never hoped for a better man to lead the household."

The scowl faded again slowly, to be replaced by a faint smile. "You flatter me, but I cannot really blame you for it all, dear one. Perhaps you never realized how much I did love you. You meant the world to me, Tevriel. But I could never hold a grudge against you. Apology accepted, my beloved." His image was already beginning to fade, but he turned to Telkarnith and went on, "Be well, my son. Bear my sword well. May you find someone as wonderful and caring as your dear mother."

"Goodbye, father," Telkarnith whispered, even as the remnants of the image drifted away as swirling smoke and were gone. Slowly he opened his eyes and returned his perceptions to the physical world.

"Just like that?" Tevriel said.

"Sometimes that's all it takes, my dear," the shaman said. "He wanted to let go, but he could not deal with what was holding him here. Your words let him release that and set him to rest."

"He really did love me..."

"Was there ever any doubt?" The shaman gave a small grin as she climbed to her feet. "Be well and live well. Your loved ones will be missed, certainly, but death is never really the end that many fear. It is for you, the living, to carry on, even as they would have wished you to. They will not be forgotten."

"Thank you, shaman," Tevriel said quietly.

"My work here is done for now. It is time for me to move on. Do not hesitate to call upon me should my services regretfully be needed again in the future."

When the shaman left again, the house felt a little emptier. Kior was crying again, but Telkarnith could find no tears to shed at the moment. Despite all the death, there was a sense of peace and calm about the vicinity. His head was clear and the fever had passed, but all the same he knew nothing would ever be the same again. He was a man now, by necessity, whether he was ready for it or not.

* * *

The next morning, Telkarnith woke to find a very familiar sword propped up beside the head of his bed in its sheath. He wasn't sure if his mother had placed it there, or if it had magically brought itself to him of its own volition. He crawled out of bed and picked it up, putting a hand on the hilt and drawing it out of its sheath slowly. It was large and unwieldy for him, but he found it to be surprisingly light and easy to handle. The rune-covered blade was glowing softly, and as he examined it, he heard a voice speaking in his head.

"Greetings, young Telkarnith," spoke a voice that could only be from the sword itself.

"Who are you?" Telkarnith said aloud.

"I am Zarnith Chelseer, the First. Ages ago, I bound my spirit into this magical sword so that I may lend my strength and knowledge to my future descendants. Your will is strong and your heart is true. Bear my power well, for you may need it in the years to come."

Telkarnith asked in his mind, "Can you hear my thoughts?"

"After a fashion," the spirit of the sword replied, a soft chuckle echoing through his head. "I will hear what you direct to me, but I will respect your privacy if you so choose. You need not fear me turning against you or betraying you, however. Such a thing would be inconceivable unless one of my bloodline were to turn to such heinous depths of depravity and madness that I would refuse to support such actions. But such a thing has never happened as of yet, and I hope that it never shall."

"So in a way, you found a way to live forever," Telkarnith thought despite himself.

"Immortality, after a fashion, you might call it that. But it does not come without a price, as nothing ever does. I sacrificed both my life and my death for the sake of my children and my children's children, so long as there are those of the Dragon's Blood who yet live. I have no existence beyond the sword and the one to whom I am bound."

"You are bound to me?"

"Yes. I have chosen you as my heir; do not think it is automatic based on your birth. Until such a time as you die, you voluntarily surrender your birthright, or your soul is corrupted beyond hope of redemption, I am your servant, your weapon, your right hand. Only you will hear my voice, and I will do everything in my power to aid you and advise you when needed or desired. No one will ever be able to take me from you or use you against me. Should you ever lose me for any reason, I will appear at your side again at dawn."

"I'm not sure if I'm ready for all this."

"You are more ready than you believe yourself to be. Search your heart, Telkarnith Chelseer. It will never steer you wrong."


	2. Spirit Horse

"Well, if you really want to go to Hlaya, son, I won't stop you," Tevriel said. "Theirs isn't the only sort of magic in this world, but it's a well enough place to start." 

"Will you and Kior be alright while I'm gone?" Telkarnith asked. 

Tevriel chuckled. "We'll be fine, don't worry about us. Go off and have your little adventure, but be careful out there." 

"I'm only going to the next village. I don't know how much of an adventure that'll be." 

"Perhaps more than you might be prepared for." 

After making preparations, gathering supplies, and strapping his sword to his back, Telkarnith saddled up one of the family's horses, a bay gelding by the name of Sarhinor. He set off at an easy pace, expecting that he could arrive in the village of Roulden Trisa by that evening. The sun of late summer shone brightly overhead, and there was not a cloud in the sky. 

He rode down the canyon of Roulden. It had been a long time since he had been this way, and he scarcely remembered it now. As he rode further south, the walls of the canyon grew tall and sheer in places, and the hoofbeats of his horse echoed off the walls so that it sounded like an entire herd was tramping through the gorge. 

After a moment, Telkarnith drew Sarhinor to a halt, frowning faintly as he cocked his head. The echoing hoofbeats continued. There _were_ other horses down here. It was impossible to tell where they were or how many of them there were, though. Perhaps it was a merchant caravan, he thought to himself as he continued on. 

Further on, the winding canyon opened up into a wide, rugged valley. Sarhinor was growing increasingly unruly, and he was having difficulty keeping the horse on track. "What's wrong, boy?" Telkarnith murmured. "Easy now. Steady." The young gelding wasn't interested in paying attention, however, especially as the sounds of hoofbeats grew louder. Telkarnith feared that whoever it might be would spook the horse and cause him to bolt. He continued to try to calm the animal, but it was no use. With a whinny, Sarhinor bucked and hurled Telkarnith from his back, and galloped off in the direction of the hoofbeats. 

Telkarnith grunted and coughed softly in the dust of his formerly faithful steed. He inspected himself, and determined that although he was scratched up a bit, nothing seemed to be broken, though he was sure that there would be bruises later. Slowly, he climbed to his feet and brushed himself off, and started off in the direction Sarhinor had fled. Strange that the horse had bolted _toward_ the sounds of hoofbeats rather than away from them, if that was what had spooked him. 

He approached cautiously in that direction to see what might be seen, climbing up onto a rocky outcropping to get a better view. This was no merchant caravan as he had thought at first, but a large group of horses unaccompanied by any humanoid being. There must be at least two dozen of them, and Sarhinor had gone to join them. He could see the reddish-brown horse whickering closely with a silver stallion, as if talking, having some conversation in whatever language the horses might speak. There was something strange, almost ghostly, about the stallion, that Telkarnith could not immediately put his finger on. 

Telkarnith didn't dare approach them. That many horses, all clearly feral, could be quite dangerous to him. To make matters worse, most of his supplies had been in Sarhinor's saddlebags. He couldn't afford to stand around and wait until the horse might knock them loose, though. He'd have to continue on to Roulden Trisa on foot. He wasn't particularly keen on the prospect. 

Reluctantly, he went to continue on the road and away from the horses. As he walked, he reached a hand up to touch his fingertips against the hilt of his sword reassuringly, and mentally asked the spirit in the blade, "Zarnith, why did my horse run off with those feral horses like that?" 

"There are herds of wild horses that roam all over Kalor," a voice from the sword replied in his mind. "There is some sort of magic about them, and sometimes their pull is strong, especially for horses of certain bloodlines. Perhaps they call to their children, in a way." 

"What was that gray stallion?" Telkarnith wondered. "There was something odd about him." 

"I cannot be certain," Zarnith replied mentally. "I sensed some sort of power about him, but it prevented me from investigating further." 

Telkarnith trudged steadily down the road. The sky grew dark as the day grew late, and the town still was not in sight. He was growing tired, and had not stopped to eat anything since breakfast. He didn't really want to have to set up camp out here by the road, particularly not still without anything to eat nor any means of making a campfire. At least the weather was nice and it didn't look like it was going to start raining. There was nothing to be done but to keep walking and hope he reached town before he passed out. 

With the silver and green moons lighting the way, Telkarnith was dead on his feet as he saw lights in the distance. The road was silent, thankfully, and there weren't any highwaymen or wild animals seeking to bother him. He could still hear hoofbeats somewhere in the distance now and again, as if taunting him. 

The town of Roulden Trisa rose above the valley floor on a steep mesa, and the road wound up around to its top. Much of its farmland was clustered around the valley floor. He didn't think he could manage to climb the road to the top just at the moment, so he headed toward the nearest farmstead. Not certain what time it was and not really wanting to wake them, nor thinking particularly clearly, he wound up just passing out in the barn. 

* * *

"Well now. Did I have a weregoat in my barn? Where'd you come from?" 

Telkarnith groaned softly and stirred slowly, blinking as he realized he was laying in hay that smelled very strongly of goat. There was a large, beefy man in overalls standing above him, a broad grin contorting his neatly trimmed beard over his brown face. 

"Sorry," Telkarnith mumbled as he climbed to his feet. "I came in late at night and was really tired. I'm Telkarnith Chelseer. What's a weregoat?" 

The farmer chortled in amusement and said, "A man that can turn into a goat, don't you know. Or perhaps a goat that can turn into a man." 

Telkarnith blinked slowly. "There is such a thing?" 

The man laughed uproarously, then said with a twinkle in his eye, "There just might be. You never know." 

Smirking, Telkarnith replied, "You're pulling my leg, aren't you." 

"Now why would I ever do a thing like that?" He reached out a hand to Telkarnith. "Marvel Farmer's the name." Telkarnith offered his hand, and Marvel took it with a vice-like grip and shook it in a vigorous handshake. "Why don't you come into the house and get some breakfast, son? The wife's got some tasty eats a-cooking in the kitchen." 

Marvel led him off toward the cozy farmhouse and politely held the door open for him. Telkarnith's stomach rumbled at one whiff of the delicious food cooking. There was bacon and hot rolls, and omelettes with chopped vegetables and what was probably goat cheese. It smelled positively heavenly to his hungry nose. In the kitchen, there was a woman in an apron preparing food, assisted by a young girl who looked to be about ten or eleven. When they entered, both looked up toward them, the woman smiling warmly toward Telkarnith, but the girl looking more curious than anything. 

"My fine ladies," Marvel said, "meet Mr. Telkarnith Chelseer. Found him asleep in the barn and figured he could use a bite to eat. Hope there's enough. Telkarnith, this here's my gorgeous wife, Naira, and my lovely daughter, Donna." 

"Well, hello there, young man," Naira said with a motherly smile. "Be sure to wash your hands first before you take a seat at the table. Breakfast will be ready in a few." 

Telkarnith brushed off what he could of the hay and made sure his hands were as clean as he could get them before sitting down. "Thanks for having me. I was afraid you might get upset when you found me and chase me off with pitchforks or something." 

Marvel laughed aloud. "Now why would we do something like that? I don't think a goatnapper would have fallen asleep on the job like that. So what brings you to Roulden, son?" 

Telkarnith was about to reply, but Naira set out heaping plates of food for them and said, "Eat up, dears." Hungrily, he dug into his food, quite grateful for their kindness. 

"Well," Telkarnith said after a few bites. "I wanted to find a shaman. I was interested in learning some about Hlayan magic. You wouldn't happen to know where I might find one by chance, would you?" 

"Look no further, then," Marvel said with a chuckle. "You've found one." 

Telkarnith cocked his head and looked him over. "You don't _look_ much like a shaman." 

Marvel laughed again in amusement. "Looks can be deceiving, my boy. Don't judge someone based on what they look like. Robes and fetishes don't make a shaman, after all. True power comes from within." 

Telkarnith gave a crooked grin and said, "I suppose you're right about that. But would you be willing to teach me? I can pay--" 

"No need for that," Marvel interrupted him, waving a hand. "Though I could definitely use a hand around the farm, what with Winder down in Hrackston for the summer. But shamanism is all about connections to the earth, and you can't be afraid to get your hands dirty. It's been a while since I've had an apprentice, and you seem a right fine sort. I'd not mind at all." 

"I wouldn't mind working, though I'm afraid I don't have any experience with goats, just horses," Telkarnith said, then winced a bit and rubbed his bruises. "Or at least I thought I did." 

"They've got a mind of their own, goats do," Marvel said. "But then, so do some horses. That wouldn't have anything to do with why you ended up taking a snooze in my barn in the middle of the night, now, would it?" 

"Something like that," Telkarnith replied. "When I was riding down from Wishingsdale, I came across a herd of horses in the valley to the north of Roulden Trisa. My horse got more and more on edge around them, before finally bucking me off and bolting. I went closer to take a look at them and I saw my horse, well, talking I suppose you'd say, with a strange silver-colored stallion. Do you know who or what this stallion might have been?" 

Marvel popped a big bite of food in his mouth and chewed intently. "Redger," he replied after several long moments. "Could only have been Redger." 

"Redger, sir?" Telkarnith wondered. 

"No, no, none of this 'sir' business," Marvel said, gesturing flamboyantly at nothing in particular. "The name's Marvel. You can come up with any number of names or titles to call a person, but in the end, they don't make them who they really are. So just call me Marvel. Everyone else does." He chuckled lightly and went to finish up his food. "Anyway, yes. Redger is, in a way, the king of the horses, insofar as horses might have a king. The elves call him the god of horses, but that's really just another way of saying that he's a mighty horse spirit. He roams all over Kalor, wild and free, and sometimes calls to horses to break their bonds and join his herds." 

Naira began to clear away their empty plates. "There's much to be done yet today, boys, and I'm sure you can chat while doing it. Donna, be a dear and clean up the kitchen and wash these dishes, will you?" 

"Come along, son," Marvel said. "There's work to be done." 

Marvel led Telkarnith out of the house again and showed him around the farm, introduced him to the goats and chickens, and put him to work. There was a lot to be done around a farm, Telkarnith quickly realized, most of which he had missed out on what with hired hands doing much of the work with the horses back at home. He wasn't used to the amount of exertion, especially after having slept poorly, but he wasn't about to complain or show weakness if he could help it. 

"Son, are you listening to me?" Marvel asked some hours later, snapping him out of a slightly dazed trance. 

"Er, what?" Telkarnith said, blinking. "Sorry, Marvel, I must have dozed off there for a moment." 

"Don't worry about it. Go get cleaned up and get some sleep. You can use Winder's room till he gets back. Third room down the hall." 

"Alright." Telkarnith took the dismissal begrudgingly and headed off. He didn't really think that he had learned much about shamanism on the first day here, but he was willing to give it time, to give him a chance to see what he had to teach. He found that he rather liked the man already, and trusted him implicitly. Marvel wouldn't steer him wrong, he was sure. 

* * *

"And who is this sleeping in my bed?" said a voice mock-threateningly, jolting Telkarnith awake. He had slept in; the early autumn sun was already starting to peek through the window. 

Telkarnith sat up, blinking and rubbing his eyes, and looked over at the young man. He was a few years older than Telkarnith, perhaps seventeen or eighteen. "Marvel said I could use this room. I'm Telkarnith Chelseer," he said a bit uneasily. 

The other boy chuckled lightly and went over to pat him on the shoulder and said, "Relax, I'm not going to toss you out in the barn. Marvel already told me. I've been in Hrackston for the last three months, didn't think I was going to miss out on Marvel getting a new apprentice." 

"Right, you must be Winder Farmer, then," Telkarnith said, putting two and two together. 

"Winder Sarn," the boy corrected him. "I'm Naira's little bro." Winder cocked his head at him and looked at him curiously as he climbed out of bed, stretching. "They didn't tell me you were an elf, though. I must say, I've never heard of an elvish shaman before. I always thought they went in for more flashy sorts of power, magic rings, and whatnot." 

"I wasn't really planning on becoming a shaman, exactly," Telkarnith replied. "I just wanted to learn." 

"So you don't want to be a witch-doctor, but you still want to play with the voodoo," Winder said jokingly. "Yeah, that really makes sense." 

"Are you sure you aren't actually related to Marvel?" Telkarnith asked with a smirk. "But yeah. I want to learn about how things work, how to talk to the spirits, but I don't think being a shaman is what I'm destined for." 

"Pfah, destiny," Winder scoffed. "There's no such thing. Your future is what you make of it, and nobody else can decide that for you, not men, nor elves, nor spirits. Anyway, Marvel's given us all the day off since I just got in and there's nothing too pressing that needs doing he can't handle himself at the moment, so let's go and grab Donna and get some air, and you can tell me all about what you've been learning, to confuse the snot out of me, over a game of stool." 

Telkarnith wasn't familiar with the game, and followed in bewilderment as Winder went and grabbed some milking stools to set up on a hardpacked section of ground, and Donna came out as bidden with a bucket of brightly colored balls. She pulled out a blue ball and tossed it to him, and a red ball to Winder, and a green one for herself, and set the bucket aside. 

Turning the ball over in his hands in puzzlement, Telkarnith asked, "So how is this game played, anyway?" 

"You'll need this, too," Winder said, pulling out some hoes and handing one to him. "It's simple. Put the ball on the ground. Hit the ball at the stool." 

Donna rolled her eyes a bit. "If you listened to him, you'd think nothing had any rules at all," she put in. 

"You're no fun," Winder said. "Why can't I change the rules whenever I want to or ignore some of them to simplify things? No sense confusing him right out the door, after all." 

Donna pointedly ignored him and proceeded to explain in great detail a number of complex rules involving the proper order and method of tagging each stool, what happened if another player's ball knocked into your ball, when your ball was considered out of bounds, and so forth. After a few minutes of this, Winder interrupted her with a hand. 

"Enough, enough already," Winder said. "Smartypants. Let's just get to playing before you start going into an analysis of the history of the game or something. Sheesh." He said quietly aside to Telkarnith, "She's not even that good a player." 

"I heard that," Donna said, but she conceded for the moment and sat her ball on the ground in front of her, carefully took aim, and whacked it with her hoe. 

Winder settled in to play, content to ignore most of the rules, which was just as well as Telkarnith didn't understand half of what Donna had tried to explain anyway, much as he tried. "So, my little niece hasn't given you too much of a headache while I've been gone, has she?" 

"Nah," Telkarnith said, grinning over at Donna. "She's been great. She's helped a lot of the time to explain something I didn't quite get. I think she'll make a great shaman someday herself." 

Donna blushed a bit and tried to hide it by looking away. Winder smirked and said, "Yeah, I'm sure she will, if she doesn't stop to explain in precise detail what she's doing before she does it. I imagine that'd turn any patients off, and really discourage future visits if they die before she's done talking." 

"I have ears as well as a tongue, you know," Donna interjected. 

"Nah, she'll be great at it," Telkarnith said. "Like the shaman who saved my life earlier this year when we had this terrible fever during the long winter. I never asked her what her name was..." 

"Yeah, and what are you going to do then, Tel?" Winder asked. 

"Well, my studies are coming along fine, but I don't think I'm really cut out to be a healer," Telkarnith said, shrugging a bit before batting at his ball and watching it fly way off course. "Or to play this game, for that matter." 

"You get used to it," Winder said. "And don't feel too bad about it. The hoe wasn't exactly designed to be used for this sort of thing. I'm sure you'll be great with that sword of yours, once you grow into it. Don't have quite the muscle on you for it yet. I don't see how you can even lift it." 

"It's lighter than it looks. I haven't really practiced as much with it as I should, though." 

"You don't have to be a dedicated healer to be a shaman, you know," Donna commented. "There have been those in history who have used their powers for other purposes. Like redirecting a river, lighting a campfire, making plants grow, even raining lightning upon their enemies. Mastery of the elements and a rapport with the spirits can be very useful regardless of your intended line of work." 

Winder snorted softly and said aside to Telkarnith, "Did you hear her? She said 'rapport'! What kind of ten year old talks like that?" 

"I'm eleven, Winder," Donna corrected. 

"Whatever," Winder said offhandedly. "Now-- Hey!" Their game was interrupted rather rudely by one of the goats getting loose and tromping through their playing area, knocking over the stools and making off again with Winder's red ball in its mouth. "Get back here! Drop that this instant!" He ran off chasing the frisky goat. 

Telkarnith stood smirking off at Winder as he ran off, and set aside his hoe, stretching a bit. "I've had enough of the game, anyway." 

"We weren't even playing it right anyway," Donna said with a shrug, propping her hoe up against the wall and putting the remaining two balls back in the bucket. She gestured at him to follow and went to walk off away from the buildings. "And it should really be played with special sticks and not hoes." 

A light breeze played her dark hair against her nut-brown face. Across the fields of crops, Telkarnith could see in the distance the rugged hills covered in the hardy, stunted trees that were common in northern Hlaya. "So you mean I could become a warrior but still be a shaman of some sort?" Telkarnith wondered quietly after a few moments. 

"If that's what you're inclined to," Donna said a bit uneasily. 

"I would not want to for the sake of killing and conquering," Telkarnith assured her quickly. "But someday I feel that I might be called to defend the innocent with blade and spell, and ensure freedom from tyranny for all people." 

Donna chuckled softly in amusement. "Some might say that you've just been listening to too many stories." Her face sobered quickly, though. "But you've a touch of precognizance in you, I've seen. If you feel that that will be true, you may very well be right about that after all." 

"I don't think it's too reassuring to be told that my paranoia might not be unwarranted," Telkarnith replied with a smirk. "My father never got much use out of this sword, nor his father before him, but I have a feeling that's going to change. I'd best be learning to use it while I still have a chance to." 

"There's always a chance. Just sometimes it might be too late for that sort of solution. But with the strength of the spirits at your side, you'll be far better off than you would be otherwise." 

* * *

"You've been learning diligently these past months," Marvel said. "But now is the time for you to put your newfound skills to the test. The snows have passed, and wild horses have been sighted again on our borders." 

"Redger's herd is back?" Telkarnith asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"So it would seem," Marvel said with a grin. "They didn't mention him specifically, but I have a feeling Redger himself is with them." 

"But what do you want me to do about them?" 

"There's your test, Telkarnith. Find them, track them down, approach them. Communicate with them. If your former mount is with them, you should make amends with him if you can and earn Redger's blessing." 

Telkarnith was not certain just how he would accomplish this task, but nevertheless he said, "Yes, Marvel. I will try." 

"Oh, yes," Marvel said lightly. "By all means, go ahead and try. If you can't manage it, I might just have to keep you here a few years longer for further training. Wouldn't want you to inadvertently hurt yourself with half-formed knowledge, after all." 

After strapping his ever-present sword to his back and gathering some supplies, Telkarnith headed out on foot past the open farmland. The winter snow had melted, and new plants were just starting to tentatively poke their heads through the soil, some of which he had planted himself not long before. The air was mild and the sky was dotted with white clouds. 

With enhanced senses and alertness, Telkarnith travelled across the hills and valleys, tracking down any trace he might find of the horses' presence. It took him the better part of the day to finally catch up with them, however, and the sun was growing low in the sky when he looked down from a bluff upon them drinking from a meandering stream and grazing on the scraggly grass that grew along its banks. Sure enough, even as he had suspected, there was the mysterious silver stallion, standing a little ways off as if watching over them. Sarhinor was there as well, having long cast off the saddle at some point along the way, and looking none the worse for wear. 

He no longer needed Zarnith to tell him that Redger was powerful. It was no wonder that the elves thought of him as a god. He had an aura of quiet, ancient power about him, as much spirit as he was horse. A mighty being, and not one to be trifled with. Telkarnith had to wonder if his training had really prepared him for this. 

Well, there was no help for it. Trying to keep himself calm and not spook the horses with any abrupt noises, he slowly approached the stream. When he got close, however, the horses bolted. All except Redger. 

Extremely nervous, Telkarnith held his ground as the ghostly stallion approached him. His hooves made not the faintest sound against the ground, almost as if they weren't actually touching it. When he addressed the boy, it was not a horse's neigh, but like a rustling in the wind, and only the training Marvel had given him helped him understand it. 

"Why have you disturbed my herd, human?" the spirit horse seemed to be saying. 

"I apologize," Telkarnith said aloud in a more normal tongue. "I did not mean to." He did not care to banty semantics about being called a human. He could not even be certain that was what Redger had meant. 

"You imprisoned and enslaved one of my children, took from him his manhood, and you come here alone expecting to apologize?" 

"I-- I'm sorry." The words sounded weak even to his own ears. 

"You have a long way to come if you expect to atone for your crimes. I do not trust one who runs alone. Return here with your herd, if you have one, if you truly intend to seek redemption. Begone now." 

With that, Redger turned and went in the direction the other horses had gone, leaving Telkarnith standing alone by the twilit stream and feeling very foolish. Redger clearly had no fear of people, either singly or many of them at once, regardless of what weapons or powers they might be armed with. He turned and headed back toward the farm, getting there more quickly than he had left as he wasn't trying to track the horses this time. He headed inside, and, seeing as everyone was already asleep, crept inside to get some rest himself. He felt physically and spiritually exhausted. 

"Morning, Tel. I see you're back," Marvel said at breakfast the next morning. "How did it go?" 

"Marvel, may I borrow Donna and Winder for the day if you can spare them?" Telkarnith asked. "Redger didn't trust me. He told me to return with my 'herd'." 

Marvel paused and set his fork down, looking over at Telkarnith. "He spoke to you despite not trusting you, and you understood him. And he invited you back. I'll take that as a good sign. Very well, I can spare them. Take them if they will go." 

"Of course we'll go," Winder said excitedly. "I'd love to see the great spirit horse up close myself. It'll be great." 

"Everything isn't supposed to be fun, you know," Donna pointed out to him, then said to Telkarnith, "Certainly we'll go along." 

After breakfast, the three of them set out to return to the spot where Telkarnith had spoken with Redger the previous day. The place was almost silent, but there were clear signs that the horses had been here, and were not far off yet. He could sense them nearby, almost smell them on the breeze, and hear the faint sounds of their whickering amongst themselves in the distance. 

Telkarnith found them in the next valley upstream, once again grazing peacefully, but he did not approach too closely this time. "Redger," he said, though not too loudly. "We have come as you bid us to." 

The silvery stallion broke away from the rest of the herd and approached them, looking over the three of them gaugingly. "So you have," whispered Redger in his strange ethereal voice. "Are you prepared to make amends for your sins, human?" 

"I am," Telkarnith replied. 

"Wow, isn't he a beauty," Winder said in admiration. "What did he say, Tel?" 

"Redger, sir, if it would not be too much trouble, could you communicate in a tongue which my 'herd' can understand?" Telkarnith asked as politely as he could. 

"Very well," Redger said-- in Hlayan. Telkarnith spoke perfectly passable conversational Hlayan, but many of the more unusual terms were still unfamiliar to him. He wasn't certain if Redger had misunderstood his request, or if he was being deliberately obtuse. "Why don't you make me your new-thing, your win-gold, a talking horse for you to unman and take to your ring-tent to entertain the many-people with?" 

"Sorry, I meant no offense," Winder said a bit sheepishly. "I'm not a great shaman or anything. I'm just a lowly peon. It is quite the honor to see so mighty a spirit as you up close like this." 

Redger seemed a bit mollified, though it was hard to tell. "As you say." 

"Look, Redger," Telkarnith said gently. "I'm really sorry about what was done to your son. But I was really not involved or had any say in what my father did, nor did I even realize that he's your son." 

"Be that as it may," Redger said. "You were not so unaged as to be unseeing. You _will_ atone for this if you would seek my blessing." 

"What can I do to atone for it?" 

"You tell me." 

Telkarnith blinked. "What?" 

"I will not demand anything of you but that you decide how you will atone for your crimes yourself," Redger explained. "If I deem that your actions are suitable atonement, I will give you my blessing." 

Telkarnith almost questioned that he was hearing the horse's words properly now as well. "How am I supposed to do that?" 

"That is for you to decide yourself. If you do not have a suitable suggestion at this time, seek me again later. My patience is infinite, if you can find me." 

Donna glanced aside toward Telkarnith, who was feeling very uncertain at the moment. "Tel, doesn't your family run a horse ranch?" 

"Yeah..." Telkarnith said thoughtfully, mulling over the suggestion. "I could certainly make sure that things are run better there for the horses, I'm sure. Give them more room and better accommodations, ensure that none of them are, um, 'unmanned' in the future. Would that be acceptable?" 

"I could not ask that more be done for my enslaved subjects," Redger said. "Much as I hate to see them imprisoned, I know that most of those of those weaker lines are not ready for freedom. But you will not hold any horse against its will who wishes to be free. That alone is not suitable atonement, however. I would have you offer more in addition to this, and of a more personal nature." 

Telkarnith stared off, thinking deeply. What personal atonement could he make for sins that were not his own? "I could swear never to ride any beast that is not willing." 

Redger swished a ghostly tail thoughtfully, and shook his head. "While I appreciate the sentiment, that will not be good enough, I'm afraid. Most of those horses who have been enslaved for their entire lives do not understand what it means to be unwilling to submit any longer." 

After a few moments, Telkarnith added, rather reluctantly, "I could swear never to ride a horse again at all." He tried to tell himself that that wasn't such a heavy price. After all, that didn't include donkeys or such. What an impressive mighty warrior to be riding to the battlefield on a donkey, he thought. 

"That is acceptable," Redger said. "But there is yet a third thing that I would ask of you, of a more immediate nature." 

Telkarnith had the feeling that this time he had something specific in mind, and could guess very well what it was. "I will make amends with Sarhinor," he said, looking to the ground. 

Redger nodded his head, seeming satisfied. "Very well. I will take you to him now, if you would. I am certain that he will appreciate the reassurance." 

The three of them followed the silvery spirit horse as he led them off around the group of peacefully grazing horses. The equines seemed much more content with their presence than one might expect. Only Sarhinor, on the far edge of the vale, was uneasy. Doubtless Redger had told them to relax. Sarhinor, however, snorted and backed away from them, eying Telkarnith uneasily. 

"It's alright, Sarhinor, I'm not going to hurt you," Telkarnith said soothingly. 

Sarhinor wasn't particularly reassured, shaking his head back and forth and snorting uncomfortably. Telkarnith wasn't even certain if the horse could understand him at all, but it was worth a shot. He certainly didn't understand what the horse was trying to say. 

"I'm really sorry about what you must have gone through," Telkarnith told him quietly. "But you're free again now, and no one will ever enslave you again. I'm afraid I can't give you back all you've lost because of it, but I would if I could." The thought gave him pause. Couldn't he? He couldn't return the two years the horse had spent at the Chelseers' ranch, but perhaps there were a way to use his newfound powers to heal him. Somehow. 

Sarhinor clearly was not convinced of Telkarnith's sincerity, only growing all the more uneasy about being around him. Perhaps it was only loyalty to his sire that kept him from bolting, but if the two were talking, it was in such a way that Telkarnith could not hear or understand. Well, he wasn't sure if he could do this, especially with so old a wound, but it was worth a shot. He closed his eyes and reached out his senses into the spirit world as Marvel had taught him to do. Redger's brilliant silvery aura was almost blinding near him, and Sarhinor was a bright light himself, if one dimmer and unsteadier than that of the other horses around here. His years in captivity had bled of him much of his confidence and strength. 

Shamans could communicate with spirits and call upon them to give aid when in need, but as Marvel impressed upon Telkarnith many times, true power came from within. Many things could be done with the power of one's own spirit, and as he had learned, his was not a weak one. He called upon his own strength, drawing it up like a wellspring within himself, and directed a tranquil stream of shimmering light, pure healing energy, into Sarhinor. Power to give life, to heal old wounds and mend ancient wrongs. It was a small thing, but sometimes, it was the small things that really mattered in the end. 

Telkarnith was not certain if his spell had worked right away, but when he opened his eyes again, Sarhinor bucked and neighed, but he sensed the horse's emotional state was of surprise and gladness, not of horror or unease. The bay stallion, whole again, galloped in a tight circle around Telkarnith and his friends before stopping in front of him and lowering his head as if in thanks. Then he rode off to join the other horses. 

Redger approached again, very much pleased. "You have done well, young Telkarnith Chelseer, Heir of the Children of the Dragon's Blood. I believe you are truly sincere in your intentions. Hold to your promises, and for the rest of your days you will bear the blessing of the Lord of Horses. Farewell." 

With that, the spirit horse glowed with a blinding light for half a moment, before vanishing as if he had never been. Telkarnith could not be certain, but he felt a little different. As they walked back to the farm, he felt that his movements were just the slightest bit stronger and quicker, as though he could trot all day and never tire. 

"So," Marvel said when they got back to the house that evening. "I think you've got quite the adventure to tell me. Come inside, you can tell it all over dinner." From the grin on his face and the twinkle in his eye, Telkarnith could tell that he already knew.


	3. Wolf Friend

Telkarnith woke with a start, his sleep disturbed by clanking and shouting coming from somewhere outside his inn room. Frowning, he threw off the sheets and grabbed his sword, and headed out toward the common room. 

The Blue Zephyl Inn was a battleground. At first Telkarnith had thought it might be a simple tavern brawl, but he knew otherwise when he saw the aggressors were heavily armed and all wearing leather armor and yellow tabards, each marked with the same symbol in red. Sword in hand, Telkarnith waded in to try to stop them from hurting the unarmed tavern patrons. 

"Back off!" Telkarnith said. "If you're going to pick a fight with someone, it better be someone who can put up a fight!" 

"What have we here?" said one of the attackers, looking over at him and giving a laugh. "A youngling who's getting too big for his britches. Ever been in a real fight before, boy? You look like you must be sixteen or seventeen. By your age, any good Calickan will have made their first kill in battle and taken a trophy to prove it!" 

"I haven't killed anyone yet," Telkarnith replied. "But if you don't leave this inn right this minute, you might just have the honor of being the first!" 

The large man laughed heartily again, beard shaking as he did so. "You've got spirit, kid, I'll give you that, but it'll take more than a fresh youngling to take down Chief Karsu." 

"We'll see about that." Telkarnith charged in, sword first. 

Chief Karsu seemed more amused than anything else, easily deflecting Telkarnith's clumsy attacks. "You might have a magic sword, boy, but you've got no idea how to use it." 

Telkarnith bit back his objections. He had trained, both before and during his training as a shaman, but when it came down to it, playing with wooden sticks and practice dummies was nothing like real battle. Karsu, on the other hand, might have been fighting as long as Telkarnith had been alive. 

"Enough," Karsu said. "I grow weary of this game. Stand down, youngling, and I will show you my mercy and spare your life." 

The spirit in Telkarnith's sword whispered in his mind. "This isn't worth your life, Telkarnith. You're outmatched and outnumbered. Be patient. You can even the score here when the odds are a bit more in your favor." 

"Fine," Telkarnith said quietly, lowering the sword and backing away. He hated it, but he had to admit that Zarnith was right. This was foolhardy. 

His distraction, at least, had at least given some of the patrons the opportunity to slip away from the scene. The Calickans proceeded to raid the place for any valuables they could find, leaving Telkarnith to stand in a corner and watch helplessly, but they were good to their word and didn't raise a hand against him. Then, when they'd gotten what they'd come for, they made off again. 

The innkeeper cautiously poked up his head from behind the blood-stained bar. "Oh, bother, what a mess. At least they didn't kill many people. Those barbarians wouldn't know fine wine if they got hit over the head with a bottle of it!" 

"I'm sorry I couldn't help," Telkarnith said sheepishly. 

"I appreciate what you tried to do," the innkeeper said. "This isn't your fight, though. If it isn't one tribe, it's another, and someone's always coming down those mountains to raid Trinketon." 

One of the patrons spoke up, "Not all of the tribes of Doralis go raiding innocent targets." He was a young man, perhaps nineteen, and carefully cleaning a nasty scrape on his left arm. 

"Be that as it may," the innkeeper said, shaking his head. "I wish someone would put a stop to this." 

"We'll do what we can, but I can't make any promises. The Calickans are our enemies also." 

"Who are you?" Telkarnith asked. "Are you one of these tribesmen?" 

"I am Martin, of the Rhondar tribe. I'm just glad that I was not wearing my colors while in town, or they would have killed me on sight." 

The innkeeper snorted. "Barbarians, the lot of you. But I've still got no problem with barbarians so long as they pay their bills and don't break anything." He went off to try to tend to the wounded. 

Martin approached Telkarnith. "You've got a good heart in your chest and a good mind in your head. We could use another sword to fight against the Calickans. Will you come?" 

Telkarnith thought about it for a moment. "From what you've said, the Rhondar sound like good enough people. And I'd love another shot at Karsu when I'm better prepared for it. I will go." 

"You'll get your shot, I'm sure," Martin said. "I was going to wait until dawn to leave town, but with this attack I'd best be gone as soon as possible. Let me stop by my room to pick up my things. By the way, have you a name?" 

"Telkarnith Chelseer," he said as they headed back to the hallway. 

Martin seemed a little surprised. "I'm sure the Rhondar will be more than happy to have a Chelseer on their side." 

After gathering up their things from their respective rooms, Martin headed toward the stables and started loading up a packhorse. Telkarnith reached out and stroked the weary creature's muzzle and murmured to her soothingly. He gently reached out with his spiritual powers and brought energy and life back into her. She was a nag, starting to get old, and not really up to this sort of work anymore, but she was treated well enough. 

The horse let out a sigh and said in equine language, "Thanks, I feel so much better. Ugh, do I have to carry all this stuff?" 

"Where's your horse?" Martin asked, glancing over at him and raising an eyebrow. Not a shaman himself, Martin wouldn't be able to understand the horse. 

"What? Oh, I don't have one," Telkarnith said. 

"No? Well, I suppose I could shift some stuff off onto the gelding and you could ride the packhorse here." 

Telkarnith shook his head. "No, I'll walk." 

"Yeah, you're right, it would probably be just as fast. She doesn't move very fast anymore." 

"I'll take some of the burden off of her, also. I can carry some of that." 

Martin's eyebrow went up again, then he shrugged. "Well, if you insist." He shifted off some of the things to Telkarnith. "The tribe sent me down to Trinketon to trade for supplies. Anything we can't make or get ourselves we have to trade for, or live without. The Calickans just steal what they need, and they aren't the only tribe that does it." 

The packhorse said to Telkarnith, "You're my new best friend." 

It was still well before dawn as they left Trinketon and headed off into the mountains to the east. The Calickans had vanished into the night, or perhaps they were off looting and pillaging other parts of town. Telkarnith would dearly love to see some justice done here. 

* * *

"Welcome to Shal Rhon," Martin said as they climbed the last stretch of mountain path. Up ahead, there was a town, perched on a cliff, although it was more of a fort than a village. 

"This is your home?" 

"The home of the Rhondar tribe, yes," Martin said. "Our capital, headquarters, whatever you would like to call it. There are other outposts here and there, but this is the heart of it all. And you'd better not even be thinking of betraying us, because I'd kill you myself." 

"I wouldn't dream of it," Telkarnith assured him. 

After handing off the packhorse to the care of others, and Telkarnith turned over the extra bags he was carrying, Martin led him off to a rough wooden building to one side of the gate. A barracks or training hall, from the looks of things. 

"Captain Varg," Martin said, saluting his fist against his chest at the man. "I've brought us a potential ally." 

The captain was a bear of a man, with a full beard and a long scar on his cheek. "We don't need the assistance of an outsider. We can handle the Calickans ourselves. But your new friend is welcome to stay for our protection, if he wishes." 

Telkarnith said, "I'm certain that the Rhondar are mighty warriors. But I, too, wish to fight against the Calickans. I would not want to be a burden to you." 

"I have no command over you, stranger," Varg said. "Fight, or don't fight. What you do is your business." 

Heading out of the barracks again, Martin made a helpless gesture at Telkarnith. "I'll help you get settled in, if you like. I was hoping that his reception would be a bit better." 

"It's alright," Telkarnith said. "I understand." 

Martin showed him to a small room in the Rhondar fort, and left him to rest. They had been travelling all day, and without even a full night's rest, and were both tired. 

* * *

The snows were heavy this high in the mountains even this late into spring. Telkarnith enjoyed walking through the wilds, listening to the sound of birds on the crisp mountain breeze, and letting his senses open up to the life all around him. He was glad for his years in training as a shaman, and how Marvel had taught him to recognize what was before his eyes, and what he could not quite see. 

His senses on this morning picked up a disturbance nearby. Frowning a little, he trudged off through the snows and came upon a gruesome sight. There was blood and gore on the snow, and a depression where it looked as though something large had lain recently, but it was no longer there. Bootprints and hoofprints were still discernable, although as snow started to fall, those would be difficult to track as well. 

Nearby, there was what looked like the den of a large animal. Telkarnith took a peek inside, and thought he heard a soft whimpering sound from the back of the cave. The ground was slick with blood, and Telkarnith thought that there must have been another fight inside, a much more one-sided one. 

He sensed more than saw the lone cub in the darkened den. The little one was whimpering softly, alone, and probably hungry. Telkarnith gathered him up in his arms and gently carried him outside. At least the cub seemed unhurt, but Telkarnith didn't want to think about what had probably happened to his littermates. 

"Come on, little one, let's get you somewhere safe," Telkarnith murmured, heading back to Shal Rhon. 

When he got back inside, Martin intercepted him and looked to see what he was doing. "What have you got there? What in the world are you doing with a two week old wolf cub?" 

"His mother was killed, and his littermates were taken, probably killed as well," Telkarnith said. "I'd certainly hope that none of the Rhondar were responsible for this." 

"No," Martin said. "We don't go after snow wolves. That's just a bad idea in general. They're very intelligent, and they will remember. Where was this?" 

Telkarnith described where he'd found the den. 

"That's bordering on Calickan territory, there," Martin said, frowning. "That sounds like their handiwork. But you still can't keep a wolf cub here. Its pack might come for it, and what would you feed it?" 

"He would have died otherwise," Telkarnith said. "I'll take the chance. I'll take care of him. He deserves a chance to live." 

"I still think this is a terrible idea. Wolves aren't dogs. And snow wolves are _big_. But it's not my call to make." 

Martin left him to go try to find something to feed the cub. He got some goat's milk and poured it into a bowl, warmed it a bit over the fire, and tried to help the hungry cub drink. From behind him, he heard a light throat clearing, and glanced back to see the Rhondar chieftess, Berona, standing in the doorway with her arms folded. The chieftess was a muscular woman, larger than many men. 

"Chieftess," Telkarnith said, first bowing, stopping himself in mid-bow, then saluting across his chest clumsily. "I was just--" 

"Yes, Martin told me." She approached and looked over the tiny cub thoughtfully. "So, what were you planning on doing with it?" 

"I will take care of him, chieftess," Telkarnith said. "I will raise him as I would my own son." 

"What guarantee do you have that this wolf will not harm my people?" 

Telkarnith looked down at the small, helpless cub on the table, hungrily lapping at the milk provided. "I was trained as a shaman for the last two and a half years down in Hlaya. I _can_ communicate with animals." 

Chieftess Berona nodded. "A shaman, I can believe, may be able to manage this. Very well. But understand this, that if there are any problems, both you and the animal are out of my fort, even if it's in the middle of a blizzard." 

"I understand, chieftess." 

The chieftess left him alone with the wolf cub again. Telkarnith helped the cub finish off the bowl of milk, and cradled him gently in his arms. He could hear the wind picking up again outside, and snow was drifting down to blanket the ground and bury the reminders of a great crime. 

"You're a snow wolf... I think I will call you Helkhar," Telkarnith said. "In my mother's tongue, it means Winter. It may be spring, but up here in the mountains, it still thinks it's winter." 

* * *

Telkarnith didn't figure that goat's milk alone would be ideal, so he looked around the fort for their dogs to see if there were any nursing bitches. He found one, with a litter of three pups. They belonged to Captain Varg, however, and he was a bit hesitant about asking considering his prior chilly reception. 

"Captain Varg," Telkarnith said, cradling Helkhar to his chest. "I found this orphaned pup, and I was wondering if I might be able to foster him on your bitch?" 

Varg looked askance at him, and gave the cub a cursory examination. "That's a snow wolf cub you have there, boy." 

"Yes, sir," Telkarnith said. "The chieftess has given me permission to raise him here, since I'm a shaman." 

"I've never heard of an elf being a shaman before," Varg said with a shrug. "But you'd better not hurt that bitch. She's already lost half the litter." He rubbed his head. 

Telkarnith reached out with his senses and felt the lifeforce of the bitch and her pups. They were weak, and had had a hard time of it, and while the surviving pups would probably be fine, their mother wasn't so well off. 

Telkarnith reached out with one hand and crouched down, stroking the dog's muzzle. "It's alright, girl," he murmured softly. "I'm sorry about your pups, but I can help you at least." He brought forth his healing magic to give her strength and restore life. 

The result was immediate and dramatic. The bitch looked up, her ears perking and eyes bright, and licked Telkarnith's hand. "Thank you," she told him, in canine language. 

"Well, I'll be," Varg said, watching. "You really _are_ a shaman." 

The dog poked her muzzle at Helkhar, and said to Telkarnith, "Let me see him." 

Telkarnith sat the wolf cub down before her. She encouraged the cub, but Helkhar was hesitant and confused. "Go on, Helkhar, it's alright," Telkarnith said gently. 

Helkhar whimpered, nosing about in puzzlement, but with some more coaxing he began to suckle hungrily. "Poor little thing," said the bitch. "I'll be your mama." 

"I suppose I can't say anything," Captain Varg said. "She seems to have taken right to him. But you'd best keep an eye on them, you hear me?" 

"I will," Telkarnith promised. 

* * *

Telkarnith blocked the incoming attack with his practice sword, and neatly moved out of the way. 

"Your reflexes are improving," Varg told him. 

"Do you think I might be ready to face Karsu again?" Telkarnith wondered. 

"That, I couldn't say." 

"Telkarnith!" called Martin from the edge of the practice area. Helkhar, lounging about and watching from the edge of the practice ring, looked up and perked his ears toward the new arrival. The snow wolf was the size of a horse now, and his fur had lightened to silvery-white. 

"Hello, Martin," Telkarnith said. 

"The chieftess has assigned me to go on a scouting mission to see what the Calickans are doing," Martin said. "Care to come along?" 

"I'll go," Telkarnith said. "And I'm sure Helkhar would love the chance to get out and stretch his legs, and maybe take a bite out of a Calickan for good measure." 

"You bet," Helkhar agreed. 

"You boys had best be careful," Captain Varg said. "Those barbarians can be ruthless." 

"We will," Martin said. "Sides, we'll have Helkhar with us." 

"One wolf, even a big one, can't fight off a whole tribe by himself. Be careful." 

Elf, man, and wolf set off through the mountains, heading north, toward Calickan territory. It was a brisk spring morning, the second spring after Telkarnith's arrival in Shal Rhon. Knowing that they'd be wanting information, Telkarnith brought along a pouch of seeds to feed birds to scout for him if needed. 

For the first few days, things were uneventful. The mountains were quiet, without a sound to be heard but the wind blowing and the distant cries of animals. Telkarnith's senses told him otherwise, though. Something felt wrong, and the animals were spooked. 

"Something wrong, Tel?" Martin asked. "You look very thoughtful." 

"There's something not right." Telkarnith frowned deeply. "I couldn't tell you precisely what, but something feels off. We'd best be cautious." 

Quietly and carefully, they crept through the mountains like animals stalking their prey. After a while, Telkarnith raised his hand to stop Martin, and they climbed up a ridge on their bellies to look over into the valley below. They were stunned to see a small army arranged in the valley, tents staked up around a dozen campfires lighting the night. Telkarnith picked out the bright yellow Calickan banners, but also ones of purple and others of green. 

"That's not just Calickans," Martin whispered. "They got other tribes to help them? Where are they going? Surely they're not going to Shal Rhon..." 

"I'll see if I can find out," Telkarnith murmured. He whistled like a bird, and a tiny songbird fluttered in to answer his call. 

"Food?" the bird chirped at him hopefully. 

"Sure," Telkarnith said, pulling out a few seeds for her. "I need your help." 

The bird eagerly munched on the seeds. "Okay, what do you need? Have you got anymore seeds?" 

"More after I get some information," Telkarnith said. "See that camp over there? I need you to fly down into the middle of it, near the fire in front of the big tent, and tell me what they're talking about. Think you can do that for me?" 

"I can do that!" the bird tweeted brightly, and zipped off toward the camp. 

Martin looked at Telkarnith oddly and said, "It'll never cease to amaze me how you do that." 

"Yeah, birds are tough," Telkarnith said. "I hope she doesn't get distracted by something along the way, but the promise of more food should bring her back." 

"How do you know it was female?" Martin wondered, raising an eyebrow. 

Before Telkarnith could answer, there was a shout from below, and Telkarnith pressed himself flat against the ground as arrows went flying overhead. Martin fell to the ground, his shoulder pierced by a yellow-feathered arrow. From behind him, Helkhar let out a low growl. 

"Damn," Martin murmured. "Get to cover, Tel!" 

They scrambled for the trees and took shelter in the underbrush, just in time to see a pair of scouts come up the ridge and peer about, bows at the ready and looking for any sign of movement. 

"I _thought_ I heard voices," one of them said. 

"Look," said the other, pointing to where they'd been. "Blood, and footprints. And pawprints, they must have a dog with them. A _big_ dog." 

"I'm not fighting any big dog," the first man said. "Let's just go tell the captain about it." The sentries turned and headed back down to the encampment. 

Telkarnith frowned. "We don't have much time," he whispered. "How bad is it, Martin?" There was a lot of blood. "Martin? Shit." 

He concentrated, feeling Martin's spirit and trying to reassure him and give him comfort, but he was quickly slipping away. Martin had lost too much blood too quickly. The arrow must have pierced a major artery. Telkarnith didn't think he could repair the damage quickly enough to save him. 

"It's my time, I guess," Martin's spirit whispered to him. "Get home, warn someone. And tell my mother I died an honorable death." 

"I will," Telkarnith promised, quietly murmuring last rites to him and closing his unseeing eyes. 

The bird returned quickly, just as Telkarnith was starting to think he should find a better place to hide, and perched on his finger. "Got anymore food?" 

"Did you learn anything?" Telkarnith asked. 

"Oh, yeah," the bird said. "What was it they were talking about? Oh, they're heading south. They want to kill people!" 

Telkarnith pulled out his pouch and spilled its entire contents in a pile on the ground. "Thanks. Here's your reward." 

"Thanks!" The bird fluttered down to start eating happily. 

That settled it. Chief Karsu and his army of three tribes were marching toward Shal Rhon. Telkarnith gestured to Helkhar and scrambled to get a bit further away before anyone else decided to investigate. Hopefully if they did, they'd just think that Martin had been the only one here and that the "big dog" had run off. 

"I need to get back to Shal Rhon," Telkarnith said quietly. "I need to warn the Rhondar." He certainly didn't trust a bird to deliver a message of that importance, assuming it could even find the place. At least he would be able to move faster than them on foot, travelling light and by himself, than the entire army could move. But would it give the Rhondar enough time to prepare? 

"Climb on my back," Helkhar said, seeming to sense his concerns. 

"What?" replied Telkarnith, uncertain if he had heard the wolf correctly. 

"Climb on," Helkhar repeated. "I will run like the wind and carry you home." 

Telkarnith thought about it for half a moment, then heard voices from the ridge. The sentries were coming back, and they weren't alone this time. "Alright," Telkarnith said. It wasn't any time to argue about it. He climbed on top of Helkhar's back. 

"Hold on tight," Helkhar said, and set off at a run across the snow-covered mountains. 

Telkarnith clung to the wolf to make sure he didn't slip off as Helkhar practically flew over the landscape. It had been years since Telkarnith had ridden a horse, and it had been nothing like this. He could feel Helkhar's sheer exhileration at running, wind in his face and snow at his paws. It was growing light in the east when they arrived back at Shal Rhon. 

"Telkarnith!" said the guards at the gate. "What happened? Where's Martin?" 

"Dead," Telkarnith said. "Prepare for a fight. There's an army on the way. I need to speak with Berona immediately." 

The chieftess was shocked by the news. "An army? Coming here? Who is it? The Calickans don't have the numbers you describe." 

"There were two other tribes there also," Telkarnith said, describing their banners. 

"The Margrim and the Kaalesh," Berona said, frowning. "An alliance between those three is not pleasant news. How far out are they?" 

"About fifty miles to the north," Telkarnith said. 

"We have some time to make ready, then," Berona said. "You've bought us valuable time." 

"Don't thank me," Telkarnith said. "Thank Helkhar. He got me back here in one night rather than a few days." 

"I'll arrange a whole deer to thank him with, in that case," Berona said. 

Helkhar's ears perked at that and he lolled his tongue. "Nice lady," he said. 

* * *

It was almost a week before the army arrived at their doorstep, and the Rhondar were ready for them. Archers from the walls rained arrows down upon them as they crept up the mountain trail toward the gates of Shal Rhon. They rolled flaming barrels down the slopes at the invaders. Their army was decimated before they ever got to the gates. 

"Rhondar scum!" shouted Chief Karsu from in front of the gates. "If any one of you has the mettle to fight me himself, rather than hiding behind those walls and throwing things at us, then come out and fight me!" 

Telkarnith looked down from atop the wall by the gate, and saw that he was dressed a little differently than he was when Telkarnith first saw the man. Around his neck, he was wearing a large cloak of white fur. The skin of a snow wolf. 

"I will fight you," Telkarnith called back. 

He went down to the gates, and Helkhar leapt to his side, teeth bared in a snarl. The guards opened the gates just enough to let them out, and closed them again behind them. It would be highly dishonorable to try to storm the fort in the midst of single combat, even if there hadn't still been dozens of archers on the walls ready to shoot anyone that tried it. 

"I smell wolf on him," Helkhar said. "Is this the man who killed my real mother?" 

"Oh, how sweet," Chief Karsu said. "A boy and his puppy. Roll over and I'll kill you quickly. I'll make it nice and painless for you." 

"I think not," Telkarnith said. "You gave a challenge. I accept." 

"To single combat," Karsu replied. "You aren't alone, you have a snow wolf at your side!" 

"You also killed his mother," Telkarnith said. "So what is it, Karsu? Are you scared? Think you can't take us down like you did her?" 

Telkarnith knew that what was left of his army would not respond well if Karsu backed out now. "I am no coward. I'll slay you both and skin your pup as a rug for my daughter!" 

Karsu attacked, and this time, Telkarnith was ready for him. He deflected Karsu's first swing, and Helkhar moved in, huge jaws clamping on the man's throat and bloodily ripping it out. Karsu, never getting a second swing, fell to the ground dead. 

Telkarnith turned to the remnants of Karsu's army and shouted, "Your leader is dead. Which one of you cares to be next?" 

Helkhar stood in an aggressive posture, bloody lips baring teeth as he snarled at them. None of the barbarians spoke up to answer his challenge. 

"No one else dares to face me in single combat?" Telkarnith said. "So be it, then. Turn yourselves around and march home, and the rest of you will be spared. Any of you that takes one more step toward the gates will be shot dead or ripped apart!" 

The barbarians, obviously deciding that this had all been a terrible idea and that now was a good time to be somewhere else, turned and marched back the way they'd come. Telkarnith waited until they reached the first curve of the trail, and headed back inside. 

"You are a brave warrior," Chieftess Berona said. "I am growing late in years. Although you are not of our blood, you would make a fine chieftain for the Rhondar tribe." 

"I am honored by the suggestion, Chieftess," Telkarnith said, bowing to her. "But I believe my time has come to move on." 

"You are leaving, then, Telkarnith?" 

"Martin was my closest friend here, and now he's dead," Telkarnith said. "I'm just glad that I was able to avenge him. It only served as a reminder that I have been here long enough, however. My purpose here is done. I've been here for two years now, and I really should be getting home again." He sighed softly. "Because doubtless my family will be expecting me to marry and produce heirs of my own." 

"I understand, Telkarnith," Berona said. "The pull of blood is a strong one. You have given us much, and with Karsu and so many of his warriors dead, we may now have the chance to bring justice and honor back to these mountains. Go, then, with the blessing of the Rhondar." 

"Thank you, Chieftess Berona." 

After gathering up his possessions, Telkarnith found Helkhar behind the fort. The wolf was digging a hole in the ground, and had dragged Karsu's cloak with him, then dropped it into the hole and began covering it up. 

"I thought burying the dead was more of a two-legs custom," Telkarnith said. 

"Don't care," Helkhar replied. "Maybe I've spent too much time around two-legs rather than my own kind. I barely even remember her, anyway. But she shouldn't be dishonored in this way." 

Telkarnith stood over the freshly dug grave and quietly murmured the last rites for the long-dead she-wolf. In his mind's eye, the spirit of the wolf shimmered into existence before them. 

"I died trying to defend my cubs," said the she-wolf. "It gladdens me to see that at least one of them survived. Now I have been avenged, and I can rest at last. Thank you, Wolf Friend." The image faded, and was gone.


	4. Love and Marriage

Wishingsdale was just as Telkarnith remembered it. He and his faithful canine companion, Helkhar, walked down into the valley side by side, in no great hurry, taking in the sounds and smells of late spring. The human villagers reacted to their appearance with surprise and suspicion. 

"Who is that man?" said one of the villagers. 

"Is that a wolf?" said another. 

"That thing is huge!" 

"It better not eat my sheep." 

"Wait a minute. I daresay that's our boy, Telkarnith Chelseer!" That was from the baker, Armin. "Telkarnith, where've you been, it's been years? You've become quite the man!" 

"Hello, Mr. Baker," Telkarnith said. "Are my mother and brother well?" 

"Well as can be," Armin said, "I daresay she's been waiting for you, son. Got big plans for you." 

"That's what I'm afraid of," Telkarnith said with a smirk, and headed for the Chelseer House. 

"Well, now, who's this stranger in my house?" Tevriel said as he came inside. Then her eyes widened and she blinked as the large snow wolf came in after him. "I see you've certainly got a tale to tell, too." 

"Mother, this is Helkhar," Telkarnith said. "I raised him from a cub." 

"I'll make a note to have plenty of meat available," his mother said with a chuckle. 

In the time he'd been away, his little brother, Kior, had grown to become a strapping young lad of fourteen years. Despite his years away, Wishingsdale still felt like home to Telkarnith, and he settled in again readily enough. He was the man of the house, now. 

He had been home for about a month when a pair of familiar faces turned up on his doorstep. "Donna? Winder? What are you guys doing here?" Telkarnith said. 

"Hey," Winder said. "Can't old friends come to visit without you wondering why? We haven't seen you in over a year, since you left to wander around the whole of Kalor. We heard you were back in the area, so we thought we'd drop by." 

"He's just avoiding his wife," Donna put in. 

"Winder, you're married?" Telkarnith said. 

"Yup," Winder said. "Got a wife and a little boy back in Roulden. But you know how it is, I'm sure. You think a girl is nice, and the minute you get married, she turns into a shrew and starts telling you what you can and can't do." 

Donna snorted softly. "Well, if you were ever willing to take any sort of responsibility, you wouldn't have that problem." 

"I wouldn't know," Telkarnith said. "But you two are welcome to stay in my home so long as you're in town. There's plenty of room, and you're friends, after all." 

His friends had been in town for a week when his mother came up to him and said, "Oh, Telkarnith? I have someone here I'd like for you to meet." 

In the foyer of the Chelseer manor, a striking young elven girl sat along with an older man. She couldn't have been older than sixteen. She had long, blonde hair and light blue eyes, and she held her hands composed at her lap as if in hopes of hiding how nervous she looked. 

"Telkarnith, this is Rianath Tatalkhan, and his daughter, Thalayal, your betrothed." 

Telkarnith stared at the young woman for a long moment before saying, "Oh." He stood there awkwardly for a few moments more, before, without another word, he turned and left the room. 

Tevriel caught up with him in the stables a little later, where he was tending to the horses, and said, "Telkarnith, that was very rude. Here I've gone to all this trouble to find you a suitable wife, and she and her father have travelled all the way from Desahn Deruna to meet you." 

"Desahn Deruna?" Telkarnith said, turning to look at her. "What did you do, send out word for them to come the minute I arrived back in town? Were you planning on this the entire time I had been away?" 

"She's a well-bred girl of good lineage and strong blood," his mother said. 

"She's a scared little girl," Telkarnith retorted. "Didn't you see her? She looked as though she was about to faint right then and there!" 

"She'll get over it," Tevriel said. "She's just nervous. She's most priveleged to marry one of such high standing as you." 

Telkarnith sighed, shook his head, and said, "I'll speak with her." He went off again, leaving her there. 

He found Thalayal in the sitting room with her father, looking as though she were about to cry. "Rianath, sir," Telkarnith said quietly. "May I speak with her for a moment?" 

Rianath gave a small nod and moved off to the other side of the room to give them some space while still maintaining dignity. Thalayal looked up at Telkarnith hesitantly, and he sat down next to her. 

"Hello there," Telkarnith said gently. "Are you alright? It's okay. No one's going to hurt you." 

"Oh, I'm... I'm okay," Thalayal said haltingly. "I'm just so excited! This is all so amazing!" She giggled girlishly. 

Telkarnith restrained a wince. This was really not what he had had in mind at all. But he had best at least try to be polite about the whole business. "Of course, of course," he said. 

"Are you excited too?" Thalayal said, looking at him in wide-eyed admiration. "I can't believe we're actually going to get married! I thought I was going to get stuck with a nobody like Daver Caldene or Keldar Kedaire." 

"Oh... yeah..." Telkarnith lied. "I'm positively speechless." 

He thought the girl was about to swoon, and excused himself again, nodding politely to Rianath on the way out. He slipped outside again, and located Helkhar nosing around out back. He went over to scratch the wolf behind the ears. 

"Ah, that feels good," Helkhar said in the canine language. "Is something wrong? You seem a little distraught." 

"I'm getting married, apparently," Telkarnith said. 

"You're going to take a mate?" Helkhar said. "Why is that cause to be sad?" 

"I didn't choose her, and she's not the sort of person that I would choose were it up to me." 

"Why would you mate with someone you did not wish to?" 

"Chalk another one up to strange two-legs customs," Telkarnith said with a smirk. "All concerned with keeping the blood pure and all that. I don't really have much choice in the matter." 

"Seems very strange to me," Helkhar said. "I'm hoping to meet a nice female snow wolf one day, and have lots of little cubs." 

"I'm sure they'll be adorable, Helkhar." 

"Telkarnith!" Donna said from behind him. "What's this about you getting married?" 

Telkarnith turned around to see the young brown Hlayan girl standing with her hands on her hips. He was puzzled by how vehement she was about the matter. He might not appreciate it overly much, but it was hardly anything unusual for elves of his lineage. 

"I just found out myself," he said. "What of it?" 

Donna strode up to him and slapped him across the face, then turned and stormed off, leaving him blinking. 

"I am so very confused," Telkarnith said. "What's going on here?" 

"Don't ask me," Helkhar said. "I'm just a wolf. Two-legs are confusing." 

Shaking his head a bit, Telkarnith frowned and went off to try to find Winder. He was down near the village, sitting under a tree and munching on a basket of worfberries. Winder waved over to him, and Telkarnith approached and sat down next to him. 

"Winder," Telkarnith said. "Why did Donna slap me? Does she hate me or something?" 

"Huh? She did what?" Winder said. 

"She just slapped me. I suppose she must have been upset about me getting married, or something, but why? It's not like it was my idea or anything." 

Winder practically choked on a worfberry. "Oh. I see." 

"I don't even like the woman I'm supposed to be marrying," Telkarnith said. "Very pretty, nothing in her head." He paused. "Don't tell anyone I said that, alright?" 

"Do you mind if I tell Donna?" Winder said with a smirk. 

"Does it matter?" Telkarnith said. "Why did she slap me?" 

"Tel, she's hardly stopped talking about you ever since you left Roulden." 

"What do you mean?" 

Winder laughed aloud, almost spilling the basket of berries. "You really don't see it, do you. I know what they say about love being blind and all, but she's completely smitten for you. You'd think the availability of more likely and attainable candidates would have dissuaded her, but no, she's nothing if not stubborn." 

Telkarnith blinked at him. "Donna is in love with me?" 

"Hey, don't look at me. I tried to tell her she never stood a chance, to appeal to her unwavering sense of logic, but did she listen? No!" 

Telkarnith smirked. "I never really thought of her that way, but I'd honestly much rather marry Donna than Thalayal. Realistically that's just not possible, though." 

"Mind if I tell her that, too?" Winder said with a smirk. 

"If you want," Telkarnith said, shrugging. "I hate to disappoint her or anything. She's a dear friend and I wouldn't want to hurt her." 

* * *

Donna caught up with him in the stables the next day, while he was tending the horses. "I'm sorry I slapped you yesterday," she said. 

"It's alright," Telkarnith said. 

"I guess I didn't realize that people still _did_ arranged marriages," Donna said. "The Hlayans certainly don't practice that custom." 

"Not all of the elves do, either. But my family are distant descendants of important people. Not that anyone in this part of the world even cares about the royal bloodline of Kedresida, but it hasn't stopped my family from shipping in brides from the next continent." 

"It just doesn't seem fair, you know," Donna said. "And I know, I know, life isn't always fair. But why don't they give any consideration into what _you_ might want?" 

"Donna," Telkarnith said gently, reaching out to put his hands on her shoulders and look at her. When learning shamanism with her father, he'd hardly thought of her as anything more than a sister, but he'd been gone for over a year and she had changed during that time. She had filled out, and was quickly becoming a woman now. 

"But then, why would you even look twice at me?" Donna said, looking away. "She's a beautiful elven woman, and I'm just a _human_." 

"She's also a complete ditz," Telkarnith said with a snort. 

"Telkarnith, you shouldn't insult her like that," Donna said gently, looking up into his eyes. 

"Well, it's true." 

Donna kissed him. He blinked for a moment as he found Donna's lips pressed firmly to his and her arms wrapping around his waist, but he didn't try to push her away. She broke off after a moment, a little embarrassed. 

"Donna, we shouldn't," Telkarnith said quietly. 

"I know," Donna said, pulling back and hurriedly stumbling out of the stable. 

She and Winder left town the next day. Telkarnith was sorry to see them go. 

* * *

Telkarnith was married that summer in a grand ceremony. He held no real ill feelings against Thalayal, of course, and he knew his duty to the family. Early the next spring, Thalayal announced that she was pregnant with Telkarnith's child. 

As the winter snows receeded, a man on a donkey rode into town. It was Winder Sarn, and he was alone this time. Telkarnith was surprised to see him coming from the east rather than the south. 

"Winder!" Telkarnith called to him. "Good to see you again. How is your family?" 

"They're well, last I was in," Winder said. "Got another one on the way. How's the wife?" 

"We're expecting one ourselves," Telkarnith said. "I can't help but notice you've come in from Hannaderres. What's up?" 

"Trouble, from the sounds of things. Hannaderres is getting worried about Unar. There've been some strange things afoot, some persistant rumors that can't quite be dispelled, and I don't like the sounds of it. I wanted to see if I could lend a hand, myself, but I didn't want to head into trouble without my favorite sword-slinging shaman at my side." He grinned at Telkarnith. "You up for it?" 

Telkarnith thought about it for a moment, frowning deeply. "That doesn't sound good. I'll go, most definitely." 

He went and prepared for the journey, and saw Thalayal off, explaining in terms she could understand what was going on in the outside world. She didn't seem overly upset about it, if anything, she was proud to be the wife of such a mighty warrior and didn't seem to expect him to spend a lot of time at home. In fact, she seemed more than a little relieved. She had never gotten on well with Helkhar, and was openly terrified of him whenever he was near. 

They packed, and headed out of Wishingsdale. They were heading for Roulden Trisa first for a quick stop, and then it was off to Hannaderres. Helkhar was practically bouncing with glee, and said to Telkarnith, "Ride!" 

"What?" Telkarnith said. "You don't find it demeaning or anything?" 

"Of course not," Helkhar said. "I find being around _her_ anymore than necessary to be demeaning. I don't know why you put up with her. But come on, climb on! Let's ride!" 

"Heh," Telkarnith said with a smirk, then shrugged and climbed onto Helkhar's back. The wolf set off like the wind to the south. 

"Hey!" shouted Winder from behind them. "Wait up! I'm on a donkey! I can't keep up with a wolf!" 

* * *

They stopped in to stay the night at the Sarn family farmhouse. Telkarnith had to admit that this had been, in part, an excuse to get away from home and quench his lust for adventure. But he was more than glad to see Donna again, even if their meeting was a little awkward. 

"So, you're back," Donna said uneasily. 

"I would hate to go the rest of my life without seeing you again, Donna," Telkarnith said with a small grin. 

"But what are you planning on doing now? You're married." 

"I know," Telkarnith said. "But I won't let that stop us if you don't." 

"Why should I agree to something like that? How do you know I haven't gotten married myself while you were gone?" 

Telkarnith looked away, taken aback. "Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest--" 

Donna was kissing him again before he could finish. "And no, I'm not married. If I can't marry the man I love, then why should I do it at all?" 

Telkarnith put his arms around her. "When I'm in Wishingsdale, I must be with Thalayal. But anywhere else, I'd much rather be with you." 

"Excellent," Donna said with a grin. "Let me go pack my bags, then." 

"Wait, what?" Telkarnith said. 

"You're heading off to Hannaderres with Winder, aren't you? I'm coming with you. I'm a shaman, too, you know. Besides, you'll need somebody with brains along if you're going to have any hope of succeeding at anything." 

Telkarnith laughed aloud and kissed her unashamedly. "I love you, Donna."


	5. Silver Spoon

Telkarnith poked at the campfire, and set some stew on to cook. Winder rubbed his hands together and warmed them over the fire. It was well into spring, but still chilly this high into the mountains. At least they weren't sitting in snow. 

"We should take care not to disturb this place," Donna said. "Aurora Core is a sacred place." 

Telkarnith thought she had a point. He could feel something about the place himself, although he couldn't place just what it was. There were some strange rock formations about their campsite, and the cliffs concealed caves dotting about here and there. 

"Say, where'd Helkhar go?" Winder asked. 

"I think he went off to hunt down some dinner," Telkarnith said. 

Off in the distance, he heard a voice cry out, and he jerked his head over to the direction from which it came. It sounded as though it had come from a cave entrance not far from their camp. 

"Did Helkhar find somebody hiding out here?" Winder wondered. 

"I'll check it out," Telkarnith said. "You two stay here and watch the camp." 

Keeping his sword close to hand, Telkarnith headed over to the cave entrance. Even without explicitly looking for it, he could feel something strange about the place. The spirit world felt very close, all around him, as though the barriers between it and the physical world were paper-thin in this place. 

There was light from inside the cavern, an eerie, unnatural light. Faint images coalesced around him briefly then faded out of existence. Then, in the back of the cavern, he saw three openings as of tunnels leading off, but all that could be seen in them was a glowing haze filled with ever-shifting flashes of images. Faces. Battles. Animals. People. He could not make any sense of them. 

In the center of the cavern, there was a young man, a boy really, perhaps thirteen or fourteen at the most, completely naked and on all fours. Telkarnith frowned in concern and approached the boy curiously, checking to see if he was hurt. 

"Are you alright?" Telkarnith asked softly, going over to squat down next to him. The boy had brown hair that looked as though it had never seen a comb, and his green eyes had something of a feral look to them. Perhaps he was a feral child who made his home out here, Telkarnith thought. 

The boy jumped a little, startled, and looked back at him over his shoulder. "Ah... ah... ah... I don't know," he said staggeringly. 

"What's your name?" 

The boy looked at him for a long moment before saying, "It's me... Helkhar." 

Telkarnith stared. "Helkhar? But..." 

"I'm a wolf," the boy finished. 

"What happened?" 

"I don't know." The boy looked away and stared off toward the misty images. "I just wandered in here, and I saw stuff, and something happened." 

Telkarnith asked, "Can you change back?" 

"Maybe." He closed his eyes, shaking a little, then grew much larger and sprouted silvery-white fur again. 

"So... you're a... werewolf?" Telkarnith said. 

"I am?" Helkhar said. "What's a... a werewolf?" 

"A man who can turn into a wolf," Telkarnith said. "Or a wolf who can turn into a man, as the case may be." 

"So, is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Helkhar wondered. "I'm a wolf, what would I need to become a man for?" 

Telkarnith shrugged. "There are many benefits to having thumbs and being overlooked by two-legs. For example, getting into places that a wolf might have difficulty with? Like, say, the kitchen?" 

Helkhar looked thoughtful for a moment. "Point." After a moment, the wolf shifted form back into a boy again. "This is still very weird, though." 

"It's alright," Telkarnith said. "We can help. Two-legs ways can be very confusing at times, but such as it is." 

"I think I'd rather be just a wolf," Helkhar grumbled, looking down at himself and staring at his hands for a long moment. 

"But that was not the fate the spirits had in mind for you, apparently," Telkarnith said. 

Helkhar gazed off into the mist again and said distantly, "You're right, of course. You're right." He tried to stand up unsteadily, windmilled his arms for a moment and almost fell. 

Telkarnith caught him. "Careful there." 

"How do you manage to walk like that without tipping over?" Helkhar wondered. 

"It takes some practice," Telkarnith said. "Come on, let's get you some clothes. I've got some extras in my bags you can wear. They'll be a bit big for you, though." He wasn't sure if Helkhar understood what he meant, but he went to lead him back to camp regardless. 

"Why can't I just go on all fours?" Helkhar asked. 

"You can reach things higher up on two legs, and you can see over things." 

"I suppose." 

Stumbling and clambering awkwardly, Helkhar followed Telkarnith down to the campsite. Winder glanced up as they approached, and when he saw them, reached over to cover Donna's eyes. 

"Hey, what?" Donna said. "Do you mind?" She slapped his hands away, and looked over, and blushed a little. "Who is this?" 

"It's a long story," Telkarnith said. 

"I'm Helkhar. I'm a werewolf." 

Winder laughed. "Leave it to a wolf to cut to the chase." 

"A werewolf?" Donna said with a touch of alarm. 

"Is there a problem with that?" Telkarnith said, going over to pull some clothes out of his pack. "I'll have to admit that I was never quite certain whether or not shapeshifters were even real from what your father said to me." 

"Oh, they're real, alright," Donna said. "But I'd suggest not letting anyone else find out about this. There are still those who honestly blame the Changers for the Fall of Albrynnia and will try to kill any that they come across." 

"I thought that was just a myth," Telkarnith said. "Hmm, these will do. Here, Helkhar, let's get these on you." 

"Huh? What's wrong with the way I am?" 

Winder smirked and said, "I imagine people would look at you kind of funny if you started prancing around town in the buff." 

"It's not a myth," Donna said, stomping her foot. "This is serious, boys!" 

Telkarnith tried to help a confused Helkhar get dressed. "Alright, we'll keep it a secret, then," he said. "I wasn't exactly planning on hanging a sign on him or anything." 

"He's going to need to learn to pass as a human," Donna said. 

"I look like a human, don't I?" Helkhar said, poking his head out of the arm-hole of the tunic. 

"This is going to take a lot of work," Donna said. 

Telkarnith said, "Look on it this way, Helkhar. What would you think if someone looked like a wolf, but their behavior was all wrong? They couldn't hold their ears or tail properly, their posture was all wrong--" 

"They freaked out when anyone tried to sniff their butt," Winder added helpfully. 

"Right," Telkarnith said with a smirk. 

"I see your point," Helkhar said. "Well, I don't want to have to be left behind when you guys go into a city or anything. I saw how the people in Wishingsdale reacted, and they _knew_ Telkarnith. So I'll learn to be human, I suppose." 

* * *

Port Fins was a bustling seaside city, situated at the mouth of a minor river at the northern end of the valley of Tanivalis. Almost everyone in the city seemed to wear gloves, and their group wound up standing out almost as much as they would have had they come in with a giant wolf at their side. The people around them were on edge, and Telkarnith couldn't help but notice that everyone was staring at them despite pretending not to be. 

"Where do we even begin for something like this?" Winder muttered as they strolled through the streets. 

"This was your idea to begin with, allow me to remind you, dear uncle," Donna said. "Or did you just come up with yet another excuse to avoid your wife for months at a time?" 

Telkarnith chuckled softly and refrained from comment, instead gesturing to them to follow as he ducked inside a tavern, with a sign hanging over the doorway labeled "Morn's Inn". It was a well enough kept place, and the bartender was a bald man wearing leather gloves. 

"What'll it be?" said the barkeep. 

"Have you any cherry mead, by chance?" Telkarnith asked. 

"We don't have any of that fancy elvish stuff here," the barkeep replied, turning aside to spit distastefully. 

"Alright, then, whatever sort of wine you've got." 

The others took seats at the bar and ordered their own drinks. Helkhar somewhat awkwardly said, "I'll take some of whatever he's having," and pointed to Telkarnith. 

Telkarnith took a sip of his wine. Not the best, but passable. "So barkeep, tell me, what's been happening in town of late?" 

"Outsiders asking too many questions and not drinking enough," Morn said, looking pointedly at them. "This is a bar." 

Helkhar sniffed suspiciously at his drink and glanced aside at the others. He tentatively took a sip of it, and made a very interesting face. Telkarnith smirked at him and said, "Oh, come on, it's not _that_ bad." 

"Hey," Winder said. "I thought bars were supposed to be the number one place to get rumors and hearsay, some of which might actually have some foundation in reality!" 

The barkeep snorted. "I hear rumor that Tanivalis doesn't trust outsiders. You want your hearsay? Get it from someone else." He glanced over toward the side door, where a young blonde woman, about fifteen years old, stood. "There's my sister. Maybe she'll feel like entertaining you. I have work to do." 

"What is it?" the woman said, approaching the bar and brushing off her blue dress. 

"Nosy customers," Morn said, lowering his voice. "I have errands to run, Alisha. See if you can keep 'em drinking at least." She nodded, and he went off. 

"Hello there," the woman said, leaning against the bar with yellow-gloved hands. "My name is Alisha Brewer, and I'll be your entertainment for the evening. Unless you stare at my breasts, and then I will slap you across the head." 

"Why?" Helkhar asked. "Is there something wrong with them?" 

Alisha smacked him upside the head. "Any other smartass comments?" 

"What?" Helkhar said innocently in confusion. 

"So, you folks come a long way to get here?" Alisha said conversationally. "You look like a selection of all corners of the world. What brings you together to Port Fins?" 

"We've been hearing rumors of unrest about Port Fins," Telkarnith said. "And rumblings from Unar, about strange things happening that nobody can explain, wild tales of monsters, and the like. We're trying to find out if there's any truth to it all, and what's really going on." 

"I see," Alisha says. "So, you've been travelling for a while. I bet you'd be up for some good, fresh homestyle cooking, wouldn't you? We can do your dinner right here at Morn's Inn, with our fine selection of breads, meats, and vegetables." 

Helkhar perked up at the suggestion. "Food?" He pushed aside his half-finished glass of wine. "That sounds good. What have you got in the way of meat?" 

Telkarnith sighed quietly to himself. Not only had she failed to answer his question, she'd succeeded in distracting Helkhar. 

"Fresh from the butcher regularly, we have beef, mutton, ham, chicken, and fish, prepared in any way you like it," Alisha said. "We have sausage and steaks, as well as bacon and eggs, if you care to have a little breakfast with your dinner. What'll it be?" 

"Ooh," Helkhar said. "Yes, please. I'll have some." 

"Some of which?" Alisha asked. 

Helkhar looked at her in confusion. "Everything you mentioned?" 

Alisha stared at him for a moment and said, "Right, sure thing. Slim!" she called back, going over to poke her head into the kitchen door. "We've got a hungry barbarian out here, wants some of all the meat in the house." 

Donna put in mildly, "I'll have a salad." 

"And one salad!" Alisha added, and went back to where the group was seated. 

"You know," Winder said lightly. "It's not healthy to eat just meat. You've gotta get your veggies in there somewhere. The spirits like a proper balance, or something." 

Helkhar snorted softly. "But, meat!" 

Telkarnith smirked at them and turned to Alisha, and said, "So, is there anything you can tell me about what's been happening on Unar?" 

"Nope, not a clue," Alisha said. "Would you like anything, or were you just planning on nursing your drink and not bothering getting a refill? I'd certainly hope one of you is planning on paying for all this, too." 

"Yes, of course," Telkarnith said, pulling out his fat coin purse and jingling it to show that he did have money. 

"Good. I'd hate to have to break your kneecaps over dinner." She smiled sweetly. 

Momentarily, a highly obese man came out of the kitchen bearing a dainty salad. "Your salad," he said, placing it on the bar. "The meat's cooking." 

"Thanks, Slim," Donna said with a smirk, pulling it over in front of her. 

"Cooking?" Helkhar said, looking disappointed. The man went back into the kitchen. 

Winder kicked him under the bar. "Your cook delivers the food himself?" he said. 

"We're a bit short-staffed today," Alisha said. "What with that business going down at the shore. Thankfully we also don't have many customers because of it at the moment, either." 

"What's going on at the shore?" Telkarnith asked. 

Alisha sighed. "It started out as a shipping protest and somehow turned into a fish festival. I think most of those involved don't remember why it started anyway. They just like any excuse to party, eat, and drink. But I imagine when they sober up, they'll get annoyed about the tariffs Unar has imposed again." 

"What did Unar do?" 

"They imposed tariffs on all imported goods heading into their country," Alisha said with a smirk. "You come looking for monsters and magic, all that's going on here is complaints over shipping tariffs. And a protest that turned into a party as if trying to say that we don't need Unar. Nothing else." 

Slim's voice called unintelligibly from the kitchen, and Alisha headed in. The two of them returned momentarily with armloads of plates stacked with delicious-smelling meats of various sorts. Helkhar literally drooled on the bar as they arranged the plates in front of him. 

"Are you going to eat all that?" Winder said with a smirk. 

"Hell yes," Helkhar said, grabbing a steak with both hands and chomping into it. 

"Helkhar, silverware?" Telkarnith said, holding up a fork. 

"Aw," Helkhar said. "Do I have to?" 

Alisha smirked. "It's okay. You wouldn't be the first barbarian to walk in these doors and not know the first thing about table manners. The same can be said about many of those who would think themselves civilized. But as we say in Port Fins, 'Dirty gloves, dirty mind'." 

While Helkhar happily gorged himself, Alisha tallied up a bill for Telkarnith, who counted out the coins and passed them over to her, along with a healthy tip. "I think we'll want rooms for the night, also," Telkarnith added. 

"Sure thing," Alisha said, adding that to the tally. 

Winder reached over and quietly snatched a chicken leg from one of the plates on the bar and started gnawing on it. 

Helkhar snapped, "Hey, that's mine!" He bared his teeth at Winder. 

"What?" Winder said. "You can always order more if you're somehow still hungry after all that." 

"I can?" Helkhar said. 

"Don't give him any ideas," Telkarnith said with a smirk. 

"Point," Winder said. "We don't want to have to end up rolling him down the street later." 

* * *

Telkarnith groaned and rolled over, clenching his eyes shut against the morning light streaming in through the window. Finally, with a sigh, he opened his eyes and pulled himself out of bed. The others were still asleep, except Donna who wasn't in the room. It was too early to want to wake up again from a comfortable bed after all the travelling they'd done, but he didn't think he was going to get anymore sleep at the moment. Something was nagging at the edges of his senses. 

He found Donna down near the bottom of the stairs, and when she heard him she held up a hand to be quiet. There were voices from the common room, and he cautiously peered about to see three guards questioning the fat cook. 

"It was horrible," Slim said. "It was like some wild animal just tore her apart. Why would anyone do something like this?" 

"It certainly wasn't one of us," the guard captain said. "No tepper would do something like this. Have you any guests at your inn who might have motivation or opportunity for murder?" 

"I don't know," Slim said. "We've got a group of four in, odd travellers from all over the place. One of them put away half a dozen plates of meat last night and still looked hungry. A barbarian from Doralis, unless I missed my guess." 

"Cannibalism isn't unheard of among the barbarians. Do you think he might have wanted to eat her?" 

Slim looked pale. "I-- I don't know. There were-- there were pieces of her missing. Maybe someone took some bits back for a snack but didn't have time to finish the meal..." He looked as though he were about to vomit. 

"That will be all for the moment, sir. We will have to take in these guests for questioning. Please try to remain calm, and be certain to inform the proprietor of the inn of the situation when he shows up." 

"I-- I don't know if I want to have to do that," Slim said. "He's her brother." 

Donna pulled Telkarnith up the stairs and back into their room. "What are we going to do?" she whispered. 

"I don't know. Of course Helkhar didn't do anything, but how are we to prove that?" 

Donna shook her head. "He left the room for a while last night. I don't know where he went. Came back a few hours later." 

"You were awake?" Telkarnith murmured. 

"On and off. Had trouble sleeping. Nightmares. There were dogs howling somewhere outside." 

"Helkhar wouldn't do something like that." 

"You know that and I know that," Donna whispered. "But if they find out what he really is, he's done for. Bad enough that they think he's a cannibalistic barbarian. Let's wake the others." 

The two of them roused Winder and Helkhar. Winder muttered, "Ugh, is it morning already?" 

Telkarnith nodded. "Yes, and there's trouble. There'll be guards knocking on our door any moment now." 

Helkhar looked confused. "Why? What happened?" His genuine confusion and guileless innocence was all Telkarnith needed to see to dispel even the slightest doubt that he could have murdered the poor woman. 

"We're suspected in a crime." Telkarnith sighed, and murmured, "It'll look even worse if we refuse or try to flee, though." 

There was a knock at the door. "Open up, in the name of Port Fins. This is the city guard." 

Telkarnith went over and opened the door. "Is there a problem?" he asked. 

The captain glanced about the room, his eyes lingering for a long moment on Helkhar, and said, "I'm Captain Justinian of the Port Fins City Guard. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you folks a few questions." 

"Yes, of course," Telkarnith said. 

"You there," Justinian said, looking to Helkhar. "Take a seat here." He pulled up a chair. "What's your name?" 

"Helkhar," he said, awkwardly sitting in front of the guards and looking very confused and nervous. "What's going on here?" 

"I'll ask the questions here," Justinian said. "Where were you last night?" 

"In this room, and I went outside for a bit," Helkhar said. 

"Why did you go outside?" 

"I couldn't sleep," Helkhar said. "Something was bothering me. Something smelled funny. The shadows were moving in the wrong way. The dogs kept barking. But I couldn't figure out what it was, so I came back here." 

"Something _smelled_ funny?" said one of the other guards. 

Helkhar nodded. "Yeah. Like the smell of old blood in stagnant water." 

"Right then," Captain Justinian said. "What time was this, approximately?" 

"I went out just after the white moon rose. I got back before the green moon set," Helkhar said. 

"What did you think of Alisha Brewer?" 

Helkhar raised an eyebrow. "She seemed nice enough. I only just met her yesterday. Why?" 

"I'm asking the questions here," Justinian repeated. "Are you from Doralis?" 

"Yeah." 

"Do you belong to one of the barbarian tribes there?" 

"I was raised among the Rhondar," Helkhar replied. 

"You weren't born a Rhondar?" 

"I was an orphan. My mother was killed by Calickans when I was a baby. They took me in and raised me as their own." He was obviously nervous about this line of questioning. 

"Do the Rhondar regularly practice cannibalism?" 

Helkhar looked surprised. "No, of course not. The Rhondar are good people. The spirits say eating your own kind is bad, very bad." 

"Have you ever considered trying it out?" 

Helkhar looked disgusted. "No! That's disgusting. I wouldn't dare do anything to anger the spirits like that." 

"Have you ever killed a person before?" 

"Yes," Helkhar said, nodding. "I killed the Calickan chief. The one who murdered my mother." 

"Did it feel good?" 

"Hell yes it did. He was a monster and deserved it." 

"Would you ever kill someone again?" 

"If I had reason to," Helkhar said. 

"Have you ever killed a living being for food?" 

"Of course," Helkhar said. "I go hunting all the time." 

"Very well," Justinian said. "I think we're done here for the moment. Thank you for your cooperation." She nodded to the other guards and said, "Let's go." Before leaving the room, however, she said, "You're required to stay in town until the investigation is finished as potential witnesses. If you attempt to flee before then, you will be construed guilty. I'll ask that the rest of you come in to the keep for individual questioning later as well. Good day." The guards left the room. 

Helkhar stared at the door as they left. "That was weird," he said. "Did I do good?" 

"I don't know," Telkarnith said. "I don't like the sort of questions they were asking." 

"So what's going on here? What happened?" Winder wondered. 

"Alisha Brewer was murdered last night," Donna said. "We overheard them questioning the cook downstairs. She looked as though she were ripped apart by a wild animal and possibly half eaten." 

"Wait a minute," Winder said. "This was in the _city_?" 

"I'd assume so," Telkarnith said. 

Helkhar frowned. "Poor Alisha. She was nice. She brought me food. We should find whoever killed her and avenge her. Her brother didn't really seem the fighting sort." 

Donna said, "No ordinary wild animal would come into a big city just to kill someone like that. I'm betting that it was most likely someone in the city, and probably still in the city." 

"What do you think it could have been?" Telkarnith asked, lowering his voice. "Do you think that there could be another shapeshifter in the city and we just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time?" 

Helkhar thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't know. It smelled wrong. I'd think I would recognize a shapeshifter if I smelled one, even with this pathetic human nose. Whatever this was, it smelled two weeks dead. Not an animal of any sort I'd want to run into, if it's an animal at all." 

They rested a bit more, trying to get some sleep again after the less than restful night, before going to head downstairs. The small common room was empty except for Morn, who was poking through some things under the bar. 

Morn looked up at them as they came in. "You," he said flatly. "I hope you're not expecting breakfast after that." 

"Well--" Helkhar started, but a kick from Winder cut him off. 

"No, we were hoping on doing some investigating of our own," Telkarnith said. 

"You should leave that to the guards," Morn said. "You've done enough damage around here. None of it will bring my baby sister back, though. I want you lot out of my inn and out of my sight, you hear?" 

"Yes, sir," Telkarnith said, inclining his head toward the man. "I'm sorry about your loss." 

"Yeah, sure you are," Morn muttered as they headed out of the inn. 

* * *

Telkarnith sighed heavily and slouched into a chair. "Still nothing." 

Donna paced back and forth nervously about the room at the Silver Spoon Inn. "We've been at this for a week now. It's like chasing shadows. Just when we think we're getting somewhere, it turns out all we have in our hands is air." 

"And to make matters worse," Telkarnith added, "the people have already practically convicted Helkhar through rumor alone, thanks to lack of a better target." 

"I don't get it," Helkhar said. "Why would they think I'd do something like that, anyway? She was a nice lady." 

"Fear of strangers," Donna said. "Fear of the unknown." 

Winder snorted softly. "If I feared the unknown, I'd be constantly jumping at _everything_." 

There was a knock on the door, and Winder jumped involuntarily. Smirking at him, Telkarnith went over to answer it. Captain Justinian stood outside, with more guards waiting in the hallway. Oddly, Telkarnith noticed that the guards all had sprigs of some plant tucked into their collars. 

"Is there something we can do for you, sir?" Telkarnith said with utmost politeness. 

"I'm afraid that we're going to need to ask you some more questions," Captain Justinian said, stepping into the room, guards moving in protectively behind him. 

"What?" Helkhar said, looking at them in confusion and sudden nervousness. "You know I didn't do it." 

"New evidence has come to light," Justinian said, looking a bit smug. "Namely, we sent someone to Shal Rhon to ask about a certain foundling named Helkhar. I'm sure you would imagine that we found what they said to be very interesting." 

Helkhar yiped. With a swift move and a flash of silver, Justinian stabbed Helkhar in the torso. With a cry of pain and surprise, Helkhar leapt back. There wasn't any blood, though. Justinian had stabbed him with a spoon. 

"I was hoping that would be more effective," Justinian muttered. "It was the only silver we could find on short notice." 

"That smarts!" Helkhar said, rubbing his chest. 

"Leave him alone," Telkarnith said, stepping in front of Helkhar, hand on his sword hilt. "He didn't do it!" 

"You're collaberating with and protecting a werewolf," Justinian said. "You're as guilty as he is. You are all under arrest." 

Telkarnith drew his sword. "Then count me as resisting arrest." 

"Tel--" Winder said, quickly moving out of the way. 

"Very well," Justinian said, drawing his sword, the rest of the guards following suit. 

"No..." Helkhar said, his voice turning into a growl as he shifted form. Not to the snow wolf form Telkarnith was accustomed to, however. This time, Helkhar changed into a large and powerful wolf-man. 

With a wordless snarl, Helkhar swiped and snapped at the guards. They retaliated with sword strikes, and Justinian continued to try to smack the werewolf with the silver spoon. Telkarnith fought as well, though he wasn't really trying to hurt the guards. The last thing they needed was actual blood on their hands. While the guards were focused on Telkarnith and Helkhar, Winder snuck up behind them and knocked them upside the heads. 

Helkhar couldn't be calmed down until the guards were no longer in any position to be attacking them, however. He shifted back into human form to survey his handiwork. It was a bloody scene, and Helkhar had taken a few wounds of his own during the fighting. 

Donna, who had hidden behind a chair during the fight, came up to check on them with a healer's eye. "Three dead, dear spirits," Donna murmured. "Two gravely wounded. The captain may survive, with some healing." 

"They would have killed us," Helkhar said. 

Telkarnith sighed, wiping off his sword before putting it away. "Nevertheless, we've just killed innocent people who were trying to uphold the law, for the sake of defending ourselves. We're going to need to get out of town, fast, and hope that word of this doesn't spread." 

"Hah," Winder said. "They'll probably know about this in Hrackston by tomorrow morning!" 

"Let me heal him," Donna said. "Let me make sure there isn't anymore blood on our hands than there need be." 

Telkarnith nodded reluctantly, and assisted Donna with the healing. Every second they spent on it seemed agonizing, as if any moment now, someone would come up to check on the guards and find out what had happened. 

"Winder, grab that spoon for me, would you?" Helkhar said. 

Winder reached over to pick up the silver spoon, and said, "What do you want this thing for?" 

"A trophy." He poked at some of the sore spots on his body, and added, "And a reminder." 

Outside in the hallway, they heard a woman shriek, and footsteps rapidly retreating to the staircase. 

"Past time to be gone," Telkarnith said. 

"This is as much as we can do here," Donna said. "Let's go." 

There were the sounds of angry and panicked voices coming from downstairs, and it sounded as though some of them were coming upstairs. "The window," Winder suggested. 

As the others headed to make an escape out the window, Telkarnith shut the door and shoved a table in front of it to slow down any possible pursuit. Carefully, the four of them scrambled down to the ground floor. 

Donna winced and said, "Ow, I think I twisted my ankle coming down." 

Helkhar shifted into a snow wolf and said, "Climb on. I'll carry you to safety." 

Telkarnith helped her onto Helkhar's back. "Hold on tight." 

Donna clung to Helkhar as the wolf set off at a run for the edge of town. The sky was rapidly growing dark, and sounds of a peasant riot forming could be heard behind them. Telkarnith and Winder raced after them, pursued by an angry mob brandishing torches. 

It was fully night by the time they lost the mob in the forest. They had long since lost track of where Helkhar and Donna had made off to. At least, with Helkhar to protect her, he could be certain that Donna was at least safe. 

"Let's head for Aurora Core," Telkarnith suggested. "They might have headed back there." 

"I have a feeling we're not going to be getting much sleep tonight," Winder commented. 

Sure enough, when they arrived back at Aurora Core several days later, they found Donna and Helkhar already there waiting for them. Donna was cutting bits of meat into a pot of stew that already smelled delicious to Telkarnith's hungry nose. They had run out of their food reserves three days previous, and had been forced to spend time foraging for food. 

"Telkarnith!" Donna said. "You made it!" 

Helkhar ran up and hugged Telkarnith. His wounds had already fully healed up as if he had never been hurt, except for a few round spots that were still a little reddish, probably where he had been hit with the spoon. 

"Winder," Helkhar said. "Did you bring my spoon?" 

Winder chuckled softly and said, "Right here, kid." He pulled out the silver spoon. "Your trophy of war."


	6. Predators

Telkarnith and the werewolf Helkhar, in human form, approached the city of Scalyr on foot. It was a large city, sprawling along the edge of the bay and overflowing from the old city wall, a cosmopolitan array of creatures from all over Lezaria. If there was anyplace that they would be able to blend in and avoid notice, it would be here. 

"I'll miss Donna and Winder," Telkarnith said absently as they headed into town. 

"No, you'll miss Donna," Helkhar retorted. 

Telkarnith smirked. "It was well enough off that they headed home. They won't stand out there, at least, and I doubt anyone will believe the rumors that far south. I hope they don't trace us back home." 

"Yeah, wouldn't want anything to happen to the bitch and all," Helkhar said. 

"I'll assume you're using the term in the canine way," Telkarnith said with a smirk. "I know you don't like her, but she's bearing my unborn child, so one has to give her some credit at least." 

"She's a fainting flower that jumps at every sound and shadow," Helkhar replied. 

"Hey, if I'd had a choice, I'd have chosen Donna from the start. Maybe another generation will finally get over this arranged marriage business, another age." 

They strolled down to Market Street, and Telkarnith absently pretended to pay attention to the various wares being advertised by vendors along the sides of the road. There was clothing of middling quality, fresh fruits and vegetables, cooking pots, bread. One stall was offering vivid red figurines carved from what he stated was genuine cherry wood, depicting the various gods of Lezaria and claiming that they were blessed to bring good fortune to their bearers. 

"That's not cherry wood," Telkarnith said, pointing at the figurines. A couple people browsing the market turned to look at the accusation. 

"Lies and slander," said the offended vendor. "This is genuine cherry wood from the forests of Thalarey!" 

"It's not even a good imitation. Cherry wood is naturally light colored. These look like they've just been stained or painted bright red." 

"So it's stained cherry wood, so what?" 

Telkarnith smirked. "If it were genuine cherry wood, you'd also be charging a lot more for it, and not hawking two-bit trinkets on the market. The real thing is hard to get a hold of, and more likely to _anger_ the spirits rather than bring good luck. You've heard about the sailing ship _Jerekhani_ , haven't you? How it was built from the wood of a single giant cherry tree, but its crew insisted that it was haunted, cursed. They tried to burn it, and it wouldn't burn, so now for two hundred years it has been a ghost ship, sailing the seas alone, still ablaze but never burning." 

One of the passersby said, "I sure as hell don't want any of those things, real or not!" He quickly walked away, and others near the stall moved off as well. 

"Bah," said the vendor. "Look what you've done. You've ruined my business! I put a lot of work into these things!" 

"Then you should charge people for actual work done, rather than try to pull in a few more coins by claiming that they're something they're not," Telkarnith pointed out. 

The man angrily gathered up his trinkets and abandoned the marketplace, uttering a few more choice invectives as he did so. 

* * *

Telkarnith woke to Helkhar shaking him gently. He groaned softly and murmured, "What is it, Helkhar?" 

"Something's not right," Helkhar whispered. "We should go. Now." 

Telkarnith didn't argue, just climbing out of bed, pulling on his sword, and gathering up his things quickly. 

As he did so, Helkhar said, "I went outside, couldn't sleep, and I felt like I was being watched. Followed. Even... hunted. Like I'd suddenly turned from the predator to the prey. It was... disconcerting." 

They headed out into the hallway and turned for the entrance to the inn, but Helkhar stopped him and pointed to the back door. They quietly slipped out the back instead. 

It was a quiet night in Scalyr. The only things moving Telkarnith could see were a curtain blowing in the salty breeze, and a black cat sitting on a barrel, just looking at them. Helkhar stopped and snarled at it, and it hissed and darted off into the night. 

The two of them went off down into the alleyways, twisting and turning about with no discernable pattern. After a short time, Telkarnith had to wonder if they weren't already lost, and had turned back on themselves. His heart was racing. This was worse than being chased by an angry mob. At least then you knew what the enemy was. Here and now, he wasn't even certain just what might be behind them, but he trusted Helkhar's instincts. 

"Psst." 

Telkarnith paused and glanced about. He saw a figure in a nearby doorway gesture to them in beckoning. Telkarnith glanced aside at Helkhar briefly and went over that way, hand on hilt. 

"This way," whispered the figure. A boy's voice, or a woman. "Quick." 

"Who are you?" Telkarnith murmured. "Why should I trust you?" 

"Do you want to live or not?" With a closer look, Telkarnith saw that it was a young woman. "Don't argue, you fools, you're being hunted. I can help you. Now come _on_." 

Glancing behind them nervously, Telkarnith decided not to argue, and just gave a nod and followed along after her. He was still acutely aware that this could well be a trap. The woman led them about down back alleys, through abandoned buildings, down a narrow set of stairs, and into a darkened basement. 

She shut the door and lit a lamp, and quickly surveyed the place. The place was full of junk, old broken furniture, garbage, and tattered rags. There were, however, three exits, which the woman checked in turn. Aside from the stairs they had come in, there was a small window leading up to ground level, and a dirt tunnel leading out of the room concealed by a dirty plaid curtain. 

"Alright, it's safe now," she said, gesturing to the room. "Have a seat, make yourselves comfortable." She chuckled softly. 

"Care to explain what this is all about now?" Telkarnith said, declining to sit down for the moment. "Who _are_ you?" 

"The name's Rachel Cor," she said, posing a little as if to show off her scrawny street urchin body, ragged clothes, and lanky red hair. "Pleased to meet you, Telkarnith Chelseer and Helkhar." 

Telkarnith blinked. "How do you know who we are?" 

"Oh, as if you were being the least bit discreet," Rachel said with a snort. "Now, don't try to fool me or anything. I know you're werewolves." 

"No," Telkarnith said. 

"You don't need to lie about it to me," Rachel said, smirking. 

"I mean, Helkhar's the werewolf, I'm not." 

Helkhar nodded in agreement. Rachel looked at Helkhar for a long moment, then back at Telkarnith, and shrugged. "Okay, then. But that hunter that's on your trail won't care." 

"What do you mean?" Telkarnith said. "What hunter?" 

Rachel gave them a look. "Oh, come on, you can't be _that_ stupid." 

Helkhar said, "I _thought_ someone was following us." 

Rachel nodded. "You've got a werewolf hunter on your tail, aiming to bag himself a trophy and stop another monster from terrorizing the world." 

"I'm not a monster," Helkhar said. "I never killed anyone that wasn't trying to kill me first." 

"Right," Rachel said. "Don't try to explain the power of common sense to a fanatic who firmly believes he's doing the right thing. Here's the clincher, though. If you kill _him_ , you'll get the attention of every hunter on Lezaria. You've only attracted local attention so far, and that's bad enough. You don't want people showing up from all corners of the world with powers and devices all trying to do you in on top of that." 

"Why are you helping us?" Telkarnith wondered. 

"Okay, maybe not _completely_ stupid," Rachel said, chuckling. "You're a Chelseer, obviously. I could pick your pocket or wait till the hunter kills you and just take everything you have, since he likely won't be interested in the loot. Or I could help you, and earn something much more valuable. Your gratitude." She grinned. 

"So you're a thief and you're looking for coin," Telkarnith said. "Just so we're clear on things." 

"Oh, I'm just a poor, homeless street urchin," Rachel said. "An orphan! Forced to scrape out an existence by stealing crumbs from the rich." The way she posed in saying that, her hair fell in such a way to reveal a small, pointed ear. 

"You're a half-elf," Telkarnith observed. 

"Oh, you _do_ have eyes," Rachel said. "Oh, yes, born out of forbidden love, my poor parents, doomed to never see the fulfillment of their love. Tragic, really." 

"That's so sad," Telkarnith said. "Well, it's alright, I'll be quite grateful for your help, if you can figure out how to get us away from this hunter." 

Rachel gave a flash of a mischievous grin. "Yes, you're far too conspicuous. You don't know a thing about actually blending in and maintaining a low profile. You stand out like a troll trying to casually browse the marketplace. Did you know that that vendor you spoke to earlier later went off to a bar to drown his sorrows, and babbled on all about you two? And that your hunter was listening?" 

"That's how he knew where to find us?" Telkarnith said, frowning. 

"It certainly didn't do you any favors," Rachel said. She looked to Helkhar. "And _you_ practically look like a wolf even as a human. We're going to need to work on this." 

"What do you mean?" Helkhar said in confusion. 

"First lesson in being inconspicuous," Rachel said, "is learning how to look like you belong somewhere." 

* * *

"I don't see how this is going to help," Helkhar said. 

Telkarnith just had to chuckle softly. Helkhar was seated, somewhat uncomfortably, in a chair in Rachel's basement, while the girl was going over his hair with comb and scissors with careful attention to detail. He was becoming considerably less unkempt and shaggy. 

"They're looking for a barbarian," Rachel said. "Simplest way to avoid that, is to not be a barbarian." She glanced briefly up at Telkarnith and said, "Don't relax just yet. Your turn is coming. You're both going to need some adjustments." 

"What's wrong with how I look?" Telkarnith said. 

Rachel snorted. "What _isn't_ wrong with it? It practically just screams 'rich adventurer'. The clothes are too fine and well-made for the common folk, but their wear and stains indicates they've seen rough use. The sword on your hip indicates that you're a fighter type, but you're not wearing a uniform and again, you're too well-dressed to be a mercenary." 

Telkarnith blinked, and said, "I never thought about it that way." 

"Obviously, that's why you're standing out." 

"Does cutting off my hair make me look better?" Helkhar said in confusion. 

"It makes you look like a civilized being," Rachel said. "Appearance is the right hand of being someone else. The left hand is behavior. If you can get these two down, no one will ever realize that you're not who you seem to be until it's too late." 

"Why would I want to be someone else?" Helkhar asked. 

"By that, of course, I mean pretending to be someone else, but you have to act the part and believe you are, to an extent, in order for it to work, otherwise people will notice something is off about you. You'd be amazed at what you can accomplish with such simple trickery." 

"Like what?" Helkhar wondered. 

"Avoid notice, for starters," Rachel said. "Get into places you wouldn't normally be able to get to. Convince people to do things for you. Learn things from people they'd otherwise not tell you. All it takes is the right approach." 

"So what are you going to do, give us acting lessons?" Telkarnith asked incredulously. 

* * *

"Please don't hurt me, sir!" Telkarnith said. "I'll be good!" 

"No, no, no," Rachel said, shaking her head. "Your delivery is all wrong." 

"Please, have mercy on me! I meant no harm!" Telkarnith pleaded. 

"A bit better. But you need to really _feel_ the emotion you're trying to convey. Hmm, perhaps some method acting would help. Helkhar!" 

"Yes?" Helkhar said, glancing up from the plate of bacon and sausages Rachel had brought in earlier. 

"Please threaten Telkarnith's life." 

"Um... Okay," Helkhar said. He stood up and positioned himself in front of Telkarnith. "Rawr! I am going to kill you!" 

"No, no, no!" Rachel waved her hands about in frustration. "You're not managing to be scary at all." She sighed. "Alright, look, there's ways for a boy your size to be positively terrifying, but they involve a good deal more subtlety than I think you're ready for at the moment. I want you to turn into a werewolf and threaten him instead." 

Helkhar looked at her uncertainly for a long moment, before turning to Telkarnith. He stared at Telkarnith hard for several long moments, and Telkarnith had to start wondering if he could even shift into the werewolf form when he wasn't angry and actively being threatened. However, he finally did change form, growing much taller and towering over Telkarnith, silver-white fur covering his strong, muscular body. 

"Please spare me!" Telkarnith said. "I'll never do anything bad again!" 

Helkhar growled and snarled, rearing up over Telkarnith with bared teeth and raised paws. Telkarnith had to start wondering for a moment if Helkhar was really acting or if he'd just misunderstood what Rachel had asked of him. His fear quickly turned real. 

"Don't hurt me, Helkhar!" Telkarnith begged, cowering and putting his hands over his head. "Please don't hurt me!" 

"Excellent, excellent," Rachel said. 

Telkarnith trembled in Helkhar's shadow. He could feel the werewolf's breath on him, drooling over him as if to make him a quick meal. Just when Helkhar seemed about to strike, he leaned down and licked Telkarnith across the face. Snickering softly to himself, Helkhar shrank down again into human form. 

"Was that good?" Helkhar asked, looking to Rachel. 

"Marvelous, Helkhar," Rachel said, chuckling. 

"That was not fair," Telkarnith said with a smirk. 

"Yeah, shouldn't make it too easy for you to maintain character," Rachel said. "Your next lessons will be more difficult." 

Helkhar went back over to finish his breakfast. Telkarith rubbed his eyes and sighed. Bad enough that he was stuck here, holed up in the slums, dressed up like a hired sword. But while he had to admit that Rachel's lessons might be useful, they were growing a little tiresome on him. 

* * *

The three of them were out shopping, an exercise which Rachel had claimed would give a good opportunity to practice the skills she was trying to teach them, as well as stock up on supplies better than Rachel having to collect them all herself. Their first stop was food. 

"A fresh loaf of bread," Rachel said. "Some zim'adar might make for a nice stew. And we're going to need meat, too." 

"Meat?" Helkhar said with interest. 

"Yes, meat," Rachel repeated, rolling her eyes. "Do try not to drool over it too much, okay?" 

The butcher's shop was, thankfully, not too crowded at the moment, since Helkhar didn't seem particularly inclined to listen to Rachel. There were many delicious-smelling salted meats, sausages, and some fresher meats were in the back on ice. 

"Have you any heart?" Helkhar asked the butcher eagerly. "Liver? Giblets?" 

"Helkhar," Telkarnith said with a smirk. 

"What?" Helkhar said innocently. "Those are the best parts!" 

Both Telkarnith and Rachel stood back, arms folded across their chests and a little annoyed, as the butcher proceeded to try to sell various internal organs to Helkhar. Telkarnith said firmly, "We are not buying a cartload of entrails." 

"Aww," Helkhar said in disappointment. "Can we at least get some?" 

"Oh, fine," Telkarnith said. "One bit. Take your pick, and that's all." 

They wound up walking out of the butcher's shop with a couple sausages, some bacon, some salted pork, some beef, and one oversized heart. Telkarnith was half afraid that Helkhar would try to eat the damned thing in the middle of the street. Like they hadn't already attracted enough unwanted attention during their time in Scalyr as it was. 

"I hope you're happy," Telkarnith muttered at Helkhar as they headed back to Rachel's place. 

"Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh," Helkhar replied. 

* * *

"Wake up, boys," Rachel said, nudging them awake. 

"It's not even morning yet," Telkarnith said groggily, blinking. "What's wrong?" 

"I think someone's staked out the place," Rachel said. "It's high time to go." 

There were sounds from upstairs, and Helkhar gave a low snarl. Rachel shushed him and ushered them into the tunnel leading out of the basement. She snuffed out the light and pulled the curtain closed behind them. 

The tunnel was small and cramped. Even for a relatively lithe elf male, it seemed tiny. But Telkarnith was in front, so he crawled through as quickly as he could so as not to trap the others behind him. 

He could hear footsteps in the darkness behind him. Someone had come downstairs and was scouring the place, none too gently. There were the sounds of things being overturned. 

Telkarnith's heart pounded in his ears. He dug his fingers into the dirt, pulling himself through as fast as he could without making any noise. The tunnel sloped downward, but his entire body felt like it was stuck at times. 

"I know you're in there," said a man's voice from behind them. "You can't escape. You'll pay for your crimes, monsters. Surrender now, and I'll make it quick." 

Telkarnith kept crawling, wondering how long this tunnel was and where it came out, and hoping that the hunter wouldn't be able to fit in. That had likely been the intention in making the tunnel so small, but it wasn't particularly convenient. Right now, he just wanted to be moving a little faster. 

Finally, agonizingly, the tunnel widened out a bit, and curved around. There was light that could be seen ahead, and Telkarnith clambered on all fours toward it, eager to be out of there. Up ahead, he saw the beach, the two moons hanging in the sky illuminating the rippling sea. 

Helkhar scrambled out of the tunnel behind him, followed by Rachel, who was panting softly. "Too close," she murmured. "No time to rest. Let's find cover." 

Not even pretending to be discreet, Rachel led them off toward some warehouses near the docks, and slipped inside one of them. The place looked as though it had been abandoned for a while, but there were still some crates stored about the building, cobwebs clinging to many of them. 

"How did he find us?" Helkhar wondered. 

"Somebody probably saw you walking down the street munching on a bloody heart like an apple," Telkarnith said. 

"You really need to learn something about being discreet," Rachel said. "Both of you. I'll point out that you also mentioned Helkhar's name in public as well." 

"So what are we going to do now?" Telkarnith asked. 

"We wait," Rachel said, heading over behind a stack of half-empty crates and taking a seat. "Try and get some rest, and wait for the hunter to stop scouring the immediate area. We'll move out in daylight to another location." 

* * *

"This is where we're going to stay?" Telkarnith said incredulously as he looked around. 

They were in an old hovel that looked as though it were about to collapse at any moment, tucked in the middle of an even worse slum than the place that they had been in before. The place smelled as though someone, or something, had died in here recently, and Telkarnith wasn't sure if he wanted to find out whether or not that was true. 

"It's only temporary," Rachel said. 

"I should hope so," Helkhar said, turning up his nose and sneezing. 

"We're a mess, and we need to change who we are again," Rachel said. "And it's going to take both of you actually learning to play the part. I'm serious here. No more getting distracted by tasty objects." 

"He's a wolf," Telkarnith said apologetically, shrugging. 

"Exactly. And he needs to be a man, unless he wants to wind up a _dead_ wolf." 

"I'm sorry," Helkhar said sheepishly. 

"To this end, you're going to become a perfect gentleman," Rachel said with a smirk. "Think you're up to the task?" 

"Um..." Helkhar said uncertainly. "What's this going to take?" 

"You'll need to be on your best behavior and do exactly what I say. But if you do well enough, I'm sure there will be plenty of treats at the end. All the tasty hearts and livers you could possibly want." 

"Hmm... Okay!" 

"And what about me?" Telkarnith asked. 

"You're going to bleach your hair and be my husband." 

"What?" Telkarnith said, raising an eyebrow at her. 

"Haven't you always wanted to be a blond?" Rachel said with a smirk. 

* * *

Telkarnith felt ridiculous as he headed out down the street with Rachel on his arm, blond hair occasionally flicking into his eyes. With the proper encouragement, Helkhar had taken to the role flamboyantly. He strode down the street in front of Telkarnith and Rachel, only occasionally tugging at his lacy suit or the ridiculous feathered cap on his head. With the extensive coaching Rachel had done, Telkarnith thought he might just pass for a civilized being now. 

The three of them headed into a nice inn, and Helkhar strolled in and approached the innkeeper. "A fine afternoon, my good man," he said. "Could I perhaps arrange for some rooms for myself and my servants here?" 

"Certainly, sir," the innkeeper said. "May I ask what name I shall put this under?" 

"My name," Helkhar replied. "Henry Stark." Helkhar pulled out some coins and passed them over to him. 

"Very good, sir. Here is your room key. Please enjoy your stay." 

"My thanks," Helkhar said. He half-turned back to Telkarnith and said, "Do get my bags, Karn, and bring them upstairs." 

"Yes, Master Stark," Telkarnith replied. 

After hauling the props upstairs and depositing them into their room, Telkarnith sat down heavily into a seat with a heavy sigh. At least they weren't skulking about the slums any longer, or wearing filthy, grungy clothing. 

"Well, that went well," Rachel said. 

Telkarnith smirked. "I think our good man 'Henry' is taking things a bit far, though." 

"Oh, no, he's doing great. I'm surprised, really. I didn't think he'd be able to take it far _enough_ to pull it off. I think this warrants something of a celebration. With bacon." 

"Oh boy!" Helkhar said. 

They headed downstairs and took a seat at one of the tables in the common room, and ordered a good meal for each of them. Helkhar got more than the others, but Rachel made sure to keep his choices within reasonable bounds to avoid attracting anymore attention than necessary. 

As they ate, chatting about the weather and other suitably neutral subjects, Telkarnith noticed a man come into the inn. He wore rough black leather, well-made but worn and dirty, and bore a longsword on one hip and a dagger on the other. The stranger went over to the innkeeper and started speaking with him, and Telkarnith recognized the man's voice from the shouts he had heard when their previous haven had been discovered. 

"Excuse me," said the hunter. "I'm looking for two young men. They may be travelling with a woman. One of them's a black-haired elven noble, and the other's a barbarian lad." 

"I haven't seen anyone matching that description, and I don't serve barbarians in my fine establishment," the innkeeper said. "Did they commit some crime somewhere? Are you a bounty hunter?" 

"Something like that. The name's Jack. I hunt monsters. These individuals I am currently trailing are werewolves, and have already murdered several people. I have reason to believe they are still in town. If you should spot them, don't try to get in their way, just get word to me. I'll deal with them." 

"Oh dear," the innkeeper said. "We don't need that sort of scum in our town. I'll be sure to do that. Feel free to question my patrons if you like. Perhaps one of them has seen your quarry." 

"Thanks, I'll do that," Jack said. 

After speaking briefly with a couple other people in the room, Jack headed over toward the table where Telkarnith and his companions were seated. Although Telkarnith was a bit nervous, Jack showed no signs of recognition or seeing through their flimsy disguises. 

"Evening, young sir," Jack said. "Mind if I join you for a moment?" 

Helkhar looked at him disdainfully. "What are you, some kind of mercenary?" 

"Oh, no. I am a man of good birth, even as yourself, but my line of work sees a good deal of action." 

Helkhar paused thoughtfully for a moment, before saying, "Very well. Have a seat, and let's talk, then. Tell me about this work of yours." 

After trading brief introductions, Jack said, "That's what I was hoping to speak with you about. You see, I am a hunter, of sorts. But the game I hunt is much more dangerous than mere animals. I hunt monsters, the sort that would otherwise maim and murder people on a whim. They are heartless, ferocious beasts, incapable of anything good." 

"Sounds like a noble cause," Helkhar said. "What sort of monsters do you hunt?" 

"Right now, I'm on the trail of a pack of werewolves. They're known to have murdered an innocent barmaid in Port Fins, as well as several guards that were sent to try to deal with them. The most dangerous one of them was actually witnessed to transform. A young barbarian, about your age, by the name of Helkhar. A bloodthirsty monster, who half devoured that barmaid for sport." He gave descriptions of Telkarnith, Donna, and Winder as well. "You wouldn't happen to have seen any of them by chance, would you?" 

Helkhar made a show of thinking about it for a moment, then shook his head. "No, I've just arrived in town, myself, and I have not seen anyone matching those descriptions or otherwise behaving strangely. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful. Could I buy you a drink, perhaps? I would like to hear more about your line of work. It sounds most exciting and adventuresome." 

Jack chuckled softly. "I'll take that drink, but if you're thinking of getting into the business yourself, I'd highly discourage you. It's extremely dangerous, and not something you do on a whim." He got a dark look in his eye. "It took watching my little sister get murdered to set me on this course." 

Helkhar called the barmaid over to get them some drinks. "I'm sorry for your loss," Helkhar said. "No, I don't think I would be able to do that sort of thing myself, but I'm certain you must have many interesting stories to tell. Do you always hunt werewolves, or are there other sorts of things out there that cause problems?" 

"Shapeshifters in general can be a problem," Jack said. "The werewolves are just among the more dangerous varieties. There are numerous others, some more plentiful than others. But I also destroy the undead whenever I get the opportunity. It was a vampire who killed my sister, you see. Vampires, nasty things, even more dangerous than werewolves, if only because they know how to blend in much better. Anyone could be a vampire, you see." 

"Vampires? How horrible," Helkhar said. "How can you tell who might be a vampire, then?" 

"There's signs you can look for. There's always signs of these things, like see." Jack took Helkhar's wrist and turned his hand palm-up. "If you were a werewolf, you'd have hair on your palms, a telltale sign of being a monster." 

"Really?" Helkhar said. 

Jack nodded. "And your eyebrows would be grown together." He leaned back and quaffed his drink. "Vampires, on the other hand, tend to be very pale, like death, and they're cold to the touch. They also cast no reflection into a mirror. Vampires are at the top of the hierarchy of monsters. If you ever think you see one, don't try to go after it yourself, call me. I'll know if you've got the real thing on your hands or not, and what to do about it." 

"How did you learn all of this?" Helkhar asked. "I'd be surprised if there were a monster hunter academy somewhere or something." 

Jack chuckled. "No, no academy, though there's others of us around, and we share notes whenever we can. Most of what I know is a combination of old lore and hard experience. Look, Henry, my boy, this isn't a business for just anyone. You can try to pretend you're not interested, but your pointed questions and curiosity say otherwise. You should stay out of it, for your own good." 

"So how do you kill these monsters?" Helkhar asked, grinning faintly. 

"Henry," Jack said, smirking. 

"I'm just curious," Helkhar insisted. 

"You're going to get yourself killed," Jack muttered. 

"Would you prefer that I get myself killed for being poorly informed if I decided to do something foolish regardless of your warnings?" Helkhar asked. "And what if a monster has already set its sights on me and I don't know how to get away?" 

Jack sighed. "Stubborn kid. Fine, listen. Vampires can't cross running water. Most sorts of monsters are vulnerable to silver, and they can't abide the sight of holy symbols or relics. Garlic, mistletoe, and hawthorn will protect you from vampires. Vampires are notoriously hard to kill, though. You need to drive a wooden stake through the heart, stick a clove of garlic in the mouth, cut off the head, burn it, douse the ashes in holy water, and scatter them in sunlight. That's the only way to be sure they won't resurrect. So don't try it. Just try to protect yourself and get away, then call me, okay?" 

"Alright, alright," Helkhar said. "I get the idea. Thanks, though. I'll feel a lot better knowing you're out there." 

Jack drained his glass and patted Helkhar on the shoulder. "You're a good kid, Henry. Just do try to at least wait a few years before going out and doing anything stupid, okay?" 

"I'll try," Helkhar said with a grin. 

"I must get going now. If you see any sign of the werewolves I'm looking for, leave a message for me at the Bloody Blade Inn." 

"I will." 

Jack stood up and headed off, whistling a little tune to himself, and leaving Telkarnith and Rachel looking to Helkhar a bit incredulously. 

"I can't believe you just did that," Rachel whispered. 

"Did I do bad?" 

"No, no," Rachel said. "You did good. Very good. I'm just surprised, is all. You learn quick. This calls for more bacon." 

"Yay!"


	7. Family Kudzu

Telkarnith paced thoughtfully about their inn room in Scalyr. "We should head back to Port Fins," he said. "I want to get to the bottom of all this. We need to find out who framed Helkhar." 

Rachel sighed. "You really _want_ to get yourself killed, don't you. Look, we've shaken off the hunter's trail for now, but that's not going to last if you run off and do something else to attract attention. It's been, what, a month since the incident in Port Fins?" 

"Closer to two," Telkarnith said. 

Helkhar said, "I want to find out, too. But we don't even know what we're getting into here." 

Rachel nodded in agreement. "Your trail on finding whoever really murdered that girl is already cold. Best thing to do right now is to count your blessings and lay low for a bit. You don't need to rush off blindly into everything. Go do some research with those shaman friends of yours you've mentioned. They'd probably be able to help more than skulking around Port Fins and getting yourself into trouble again." 

Telkarnith ran his fingers through his fake-blond hair. "Fine. Fine. You have a point. At least then I could go home and be myself again for a while, and get my hair back to its usual color. Nobody in Wishingsdale is going to believe I'm a bloodthirsty werewolf, at least." 

Helkhar asked, "Will you be coming with us, Rachel?" 

"Of course," Rachel said brightly. "I'm going to need your protection, after all. Little old me would be helpless in the face of certain danger should the wrong parties discover my association with you. You do owe me for saving your necks out here." 

"My wife is going to love this," Telkarnith muttered. 

* * *

"Who is this woman?" Thalayal demanded. "And why are you blond?" 

Thalayal's pregnancy was showing quite clearly now. Telkarnith hoped that it would be a son, strong and healthy, to carry on the Chelseer line. As much time as he'd spent on the way home thinking of what to tell her, however, now that he was here, he found himself at a loss for words. 

Rachel stepped in and said, "Don't mind me. I'm just a poor foundling that your husband saw fit, in his generosity, to aid in a difficult situation. My poor mother is growing old, after all, and she can no longer get sufficient customers in the oldest profession to care for her twelve starving children. Telkarnith, the kind soul that he is, heroically came to our aid rather than see me forced to sell my body to feed my little brothers and sisters." 

Thalayal stared at her for a long moment, before saying, "That still doesn't explain why he's blond." 

Rachel went on, "In order to fool the cruel brothel matron, he disguised himself to sneak in and--" 

"You know, just never mind," Thalayal said. "Now, who is the young gentleman you've brought home?" She turned her attention to Helkhar. 

Helkhar bowed gracefully to her and said, "My lady, I am Henry Stark, an associate of your husband's. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He reached out and kissed her hand suavely. 

"Oh my," Thalayal said, practically swooning. 

Telkarnith snorted softly. Helkhar was laying it on excessively thick and getting far too much into the role, he thought. He almost thought that the werewolf was enjoying this particular game a bit too much. But he had to admit that Rachel's crash course in being a man had done him a world of good. 

"Will your friends be staying in the manor?" Thalayal asked. 

Telkarnith nodded. "I'm sure providing the extra food won't be any trouble?" 

"Not at all," Thalayal said. "I _am_ a skilled cook, after all. What sorts of foods do they prefer?" 

Helkhar perked up at the mention of food. "Bacon!" 

Telkarnith snickered softly. "You're starting to sound repetitive." 

"Well, okay," Helkhar said. "Ham, beef, chicken, turkey, mutton, sausage..." 

"I'm sure I can cook up some things that will make your stomach happy," Thalayal said with a grin. 

"Oh boy!" 

* * *

With Helkhar and Rachel safely tucked away in Wishingsdale, Telkarnith took the short trip down to Roulden Trisa alone. It wasn't a particularly long trip, especially since he rarely grew tired when travelling thanks to the blessings of the horse god. He figured the others would appreciate the chance to relax a bit after their recent ordeals. 

Marvel Farmer was outside, tending to some last minute chores, as Telkarnith arrived late in the evening. "Telkarnith! Good to see you again, boy. But why are you blond?" 

Telkarnith smirked and said, "Don't ask." 

"If you're looking for Donna, she's already gone to bed. I'm sure she won't mind you popping in, though." Marvel chuckled softly. If their arrangement had ever bothered him, he hadn't shown any sign of it. But then, Telkarnith had also been certain to make sure that they received a little money now and then, despite Marvel's insistance that he didn't need it. 

"Actually, it was you I wanted to talk to most immediately," Telkarnith said. "I ran into a few issues up north that I was hoping you might be able to help me with." 

"Certainly," Marvel said. "Come right in. Dinner's already done past, but there's some leftover stew you can dish up for yourself." 

The two of them headed inside into the kitchen, and Telkarnith sat down with a bowl of delicious warm stew. It tasted delicious after walking the entire day, even with his inhuman stamina. 

"So, what's this issue you mentioned?" Marvel asked, taking a seat across from him and leaning on his elbows. "It must be important if it would make you want to come talk to me before saying hi to Donna." 

Telkarnith nodded. "What did Donna tell you about what happened in Port Fins?" 

"Some business about being framed for a murder you guys didn't commit," Marvel said. "Some rumors trickled down here about a pack of werewolves slaughtering half the town, but nothing substantial." 

"Well, there was _one_ werewolf, but he didn't kill the girl they accused him of killing," Telkarnith said. "Unfortunately, the guards were a bit overzealous about attempting to arrest us, and three of them died." 

"Ah," Marvel said, frowning. "Since when are you travelling with a werewolf?" 

"Since it turned out Helkhar is one," Telkarnith said. "It came as much of a surprise to him as it was to anyone else. He's a good lad, but some seem to think werewolves are bloodthirsty monsters just for being werewolves. We tried to keep it quiet, but he wasn't really very good at blending in at first. For anyone that knew what to look for, I imagine that he may as well have been wearing a sign on his chest." 

"It's a difficult situation," Marvel said. "The old myths about the Fall of Albrynnia attribute it to maddened shapeshifters running amok, driving people from the face of the continent. It's something of an injustice for them, though. They weren't the ones responsible for it, but superstition dies hard, particularly in the face that there are still some shapeshifters who are corrupt to the core. But even a few taints the perception of the whole." 

"Do you think it might have been a corrupt shapeshifter who did this?" Telkarnith said, raising an eyebrow. "To frame Helkhar for murder?" 

"Perhaps, but I doubt it would have been intentional unless it was far more lucid than usual. Did any of you sense anything out of the ordinary around the time it happened?" 

Telkarnith thought back. "There were dogs barking all night long. Helkhar said that something smelled funny. Like... old blood in stagnant water, he said." 

"Interesting," Marvel said thoughtfully. "No, this doesn't sound like a shapeshifter, corrupted or otherwise. Unless I miss my guess, I think you're dealing with something much worse." He lowered his voice dramatically. "A chupacabra." 

"A ... what?" Telkarnith said. "What's a chupacabra?" 

"A terrible, blood-sucking beast," Marvel explained. "Normally, they only go after animals, often livestock, like goats, why they're called goat-suckers. But sometimes they get an appetite for something more." 

"What would one of these chupacabras have been doing in the middle of Port Fins?" Telkarnith wondered. 

"Hunger. It craved something specific to quench its maddening thirst, and driven by that burning need, it would go to any lengths to find it." 

"I see," Telkarnith said, frowning. "So we were just unlucky enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, then?" 

"It's hard to say," Marvel said, shrugging a bit. "Whatever happened, you and your werewolf friend best lay low for a bit." 

"That was the plan," Telkarnith said. "Thanks for the help, Marvel." 

* * *

"Telkarnith! Why are you blond?" Donna wondered. 

"It was just a disguise," Telkarnith replied. "Had to lose the trail of someone trying to kill us." 

"I suppose there are worse reasons," Donna said. 

Telkarnith embraced her. "It's good to see you again. I'm not staying long, though. I'll be heading off again soon." 

"I'm coming with you," Donna said. 

"I'm not going off chasing goat-suckers," Telkarnith said. "I'm just going back to Wishingsdale for the moment. You know what we agreed on." 

"I don't care," Donna said. "We have a lot of planning to do, and I'm not getting left behind again. Thalayal can just deal with it, alright?" 

"Ugh, like she's not already annoyed enough about one girl hanging around as it is." 

Donna raised an eyebrow. "You have _another_ woman tucked away at your house now?" 

"It's not like that," Telkarnith replied. "She helped me and Helkhar out back in Scalyr." 

"I'm sure," Donna said dubiously. "I'm _definitely_ coming along now. Got to make sure you're not going around picking up mistresses in every single town you come to. Starting a collection perhaps?" 

"Donna," Telkarnith said. 

"Don't Donna me. I've enough trouble keeping my hands on you as it is." 

"Fine," Telkarnith said with a sigh. "Fine, come along, then. Shall we bring Winder along, too, and make a party of it?" 

* * *

"You brought home another woman?" Thalayal said, almost incredulous when the three of them arrived back in Wishingsdale. 

"Hey, don't look at me," Donna said. "I'm practically his sister." 

Telkarnith gave her an odd look at the disturbing mental image that that brought to mind. She was older than his sister had been when she'd died, but he'd always thought that there was something of Kaymellor's spirit in Donna's personality. 

"We have important things to discuss," Telkarnith said. "Where's Rachel and He-- Henry?" 

"Down in the village," Thalayal replied. "They said they'd be back soon." 

Sure enough, Helkhar and Rachel returned to the Chelseer manor in due order. Helkhar was carrying a small bouquet of yellow flowers. Telkarnith intercepted them in the foyer and raised an eyebrow at Helkhar. "What's with the flowers?" he wondered. 

"I don't know," Helkhar replied. "Rachel told me that they're commonly used in your courtship rituals." 

"Who are your courting?" Telkarnith wondered. 

"Thalayal." 

Telkarnith blinked at him in confusion. "Why are you courting my wife?" 

Helkhar looked equally confused right back at him. "Why not? It's not like she's your mate or anything. That's Donna. You've said plenty of times you only married her so you can produce an heir." 

Telkarnith couldn't really argue with that. "But why? I thought you didn't like her." 

"Oh, she's not really so bad when she's not shrieking and jumping at the very sight of me." 

Rachel smirked, and added, "He just likes her cooking." 

"Hey, it's a perfectly legitimate reason!" Helkhar argued. 

"You know, it's also generally considered poor form to go courting a woman when her husband is around," Telkarnith said with a snort. 

"You were down in Roulden Trisa," Helkhar said. "How was I to know you'd be back already?" 

"You know what?" Telkarnith said. "I'm just going to go to the parlor and pretend I didn't see any of this, alright?" 

He and Rachel headed off to the parlor, where Donna and Winder were sitting and having a cup of artu tea. "Oh," Donna said, looking up at them. "Is this the other, other woman, now?" 

"We're not--" 

Rachel interrupted, "Hello. I'm Rachel. A pleasure to meet you." 

Donna glared at her, and said, "You had better be keeping your hands off my man, if you know what's good for you." 

"Oh, he's your man?" Rachel said sweetly. "I thought he was married to Thalayal." 

Donna continued to glower, but said nothing in response to that. Winder said, "Ladies, ladies, please, we can be friends, right?" 

"Certainly," Rachel said cheerfully. 

"Why is _she_ here, anyway?" Donna asked. 

"We're here to discuss that sticky business we ran into up in Port Fins a few months back," Telkarnith said. 

"And I am quite skilled in the art of being unnoticed," Rachel said. 

"That's because you're a thief," Telkarnith said with a smirk. "But anyway. We probably would have been killed up in Scalyr if it weren't for her help." 

"A thief?" Donna said, raising an eyebrow. 

Rachel snorted softly. "Perhaps I have done some unethical things in my day, but it was purely for survival, I assure you. I am reformed these days, and I will never again harm another for my own sake, nor take that which is not mine." 

"Right, sure," Donna said, rolling her eyes. "And if you think anyone's going to believe that load of bull, you're more gullible than they are." 

"Donna, please," Telkarnith said. "She's done nothing but try to be helpful. There's no need for the animosity." 

"Oh, you're defending her now, are you? What have you been doing, sleeping around on me like you've been sleeping around on your wife?" 

"Donna! I've been doing no such thing!" 

"So you say," Donna said. "Am I not good enough for you, then? That you have to go dig up a half-elven whore for more entertainment on the side?" 

Telkarnith felt his face flush in anger. "That's enough of this. We have important things to be worried about. If you really don't trust me so much that you think I must be sleeping with every woman I come across when you're not around, maybe you should just go home and settle down with some nice farmer?" 

Donna gave him a glare that would wilt plants, then without another word, turned and stormed out of the room. 

Winder stared after her and sighed, and said, "I suppose I'm going to have to go talk to her now." He followed after. 

Rachel, left alone with Telkarnith, turned to him and said, "This is the woman you were travelling with? Really, I don't know what you see in her." 

"She's not usually like this," Telkarnith said. "I'm sorry about this." 

"No, it's alright," Rachel said. "I can understand how she might be jealous. And I can certainly understand how you'd be attracted to me." She smiled at him. 

"I'm not--" 

Rachel leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Donna, coming back in the room again with Winder, saw this and flew into a fit of rage. "I turn my back on you for one moment and you're already fooling around with her?" 

"I didn't--" 

"Well, we'll see about that," Donna said. She went over to Telkarnith and grabbed him by the arm. "I'm just going to have to not let you out of my sight for a moment!" 

Telkarnith looked helplessly at Rachel as Donna dragged him off. 

* * *

"You know, Winder," Telkarnith said. "I don't think we're actually managing to accomplish anything here." 

He sipped a cup of hot artu tea, and glanced across the kitchen at Donna and Thalayal preparing dinner. Outside, there was snow falling, and Thalayal was heavily pregnant, ready to give birth any day now. The two of them seemed to be getting along admirably for some reason, although Telkarnith was utterly clueless as to why that might be. 

"Sure we have," Winder replied. "We've managed to get everyone in one building and not attempting to kill one another. Frequently, anyway." 

"Yeah, great," Telkarnith muttered. "And what's been happening in the outside world in the last few months?" 

"Um, well." Winder swirled the tea in his cup a bit. "Talked to a merchant in town the other day who said that Tanivalis has broken off from Hannaderres rule. No idea what's going on with that. And they think that Unar is building a fleet of warships." 

"Lovely. And while I'd love to be out there doing something, I'm obligated to stay here until my child is born, and very likely until Thalayal is pregnant again." 

Winder snickered softly. "Provided Donna is willing to let you out of her sight long enough to do that. Unless she insists on watching to ensure everything is done with the minimum required pleasure?" 

"Bah. Donna's just being ridiculous in general. _You_ know I haven't done anything with Rachel." 

"Hey, leave me out of it. I wasn't there, and I don't really care. I'm not getting into the middle of any cat fights." 

Telkarnith glanced over toward the two women, and wondered, "What's going on?" They'd stopped preparing the food, leaving vegetables half-chopped on the table, and Thalayal was freaking out. 

"Thalayal's going into labor," Donna said. "Winder, go get Tevriel." 

Donna took Thalayal off, and Telkarnith found himself shoved off to the parlor, where he ran into Rachel and Helkhar. Rachel was attempting to coach Helkhar some more, ever patient and persistant about it. They paused what they were doing when he came in, turning their attention to him and glancing in his direction. 

Helkhar went over with interest and said, "Is something going on?" 

"Thalayal's going to give birth," Telkarnith said distantly, in a bit of a daze. "I'm going to be a father." 

Helkhar blinked for a moment in confusion and said, "Oh." 

"That's wonderful!" Rachel said, clapping Telkarnith on the shoulder. 

"Hopefully it'll be a boy," Telkarnith said. His head was swimming, and he felt light-headed, giddy, and very nervous. "A fine, strong, healthy boy." 

He began to pace about the room nervously. He hadn't even really put much thought into a name for his child. But what if it turned out to be a girl? He didn't know what he'd do then. He'd have to get Thalayal pregnant again to produce another child. But there hadn't been a girl firstborn in his family in generations. 

"Why are you so nervous?" Helkhar asked. 

"Yeah, relax," Rachel said. "She's the one doing all the work." 

"I'm just really hoping that it's a boy." 

"Why?" Helkhar wondered. 

"Otherwise I'll need to try again to produce an heir." 

Helkhar looked very confused. "What's so special about boys? And what's an heir?" 

"Only a boy can carry on the family name and line, of course," Telkarnith said. "Children take the name of their father, after all." 

Helkhar blinked. "So your kids will be named Telkarnith too? Won't that get confusing?" 

Telkarnith chuckled softly. "No, no. Their surname, not their given name. My name is Telkarnith Chelseer, see? And since I'm a man, any of my children will also have Chelseer as their second name." 

"Oh," Helkhar said. "I see. But, I don't have a surname, do I? What would any kids I have be called?" 

"What, thinking of settling down and having little ones already?" Telkarnith said, vaguely amused. At least trying to explain things to the poor, easily confused werewolf distracted him a bit from his unease. 

"Maybe," Helkhar said, shrugging. "I'm just wondering. I suppose it makes sense if you're trying to keep track of whose kids are whose." 

"Well, if you're not still trying to pretend to be Henry Stark, you could always give them Helkhar as their last name," Telkarnith said. "Or make up a new surname for yourself." 

"Hmm," Helkhar said, looking thoughtful, then he nodded. 

After some time, Telkarnith grew worried again, wondering if everything was going alright in the other room. But finally, the door opened and Donna came in, carrying a blanket-wrapped bundle in her arms. 

"Congratulations. It's a boy," she said. 

Telkarnith took the precious burden from her hands and looked down at the small elven baby, blinking up at him with clear blue eyes. "My little one... my son, my heir," he murmured. 

Helkhar came over to peer at the little boy. "What's wrong with him?" he wondered. "He's all pink and hairless and ugly." 

Telkarnith just laughed lightly. "He's not a wolf, Helkhar. This is what elvish babies look like." 

"Oh," Helkhar said. 

"So beautiful," Telkarnith murmured, looking down into the child's bright eyes. "Your eyes are like the blue star, Shazmar, shining brightly above in the sky. Therefore, I believe I shall call you Shaznith." 

* * *

"You are not going in there," Donna said. 

"What?" Telkarnith said, raising an eyebrow. "But she's my wife. Didn't we already discuss this?" 

"You already have an heir." 

"But what if something bad happens to him? It's always good to have a 'spare', they say." 

Donna smirked. "Nothing's going to happen to him. Come on. Let's go to bed." 

"I have a duty to my bloodline, you know." Telkarnith shook his head, and turned to go into Thalayal's room. 

Thalayal, already in bed, poked her head out from the curtains at him. "Oh. Telkarnith. Do you need something?" 

Telkarnith stared at her and said, "We need to get started on the next one, don't we?" 

"Oh, I don't think that'll really be necessary." 

"What, not you too?" Telkarnith said in exasperation. "Damnit, woman, you're my wife!" 

"And I can just kindly ignore the mistresses you're keeping in my house if you'll leave me be about it," Thalayal replied. 

Telkarnith was taken aback. "I'm not... damnit." 

"Go along now, then. Have fun with your girl friends." 

He peered around suspiciously. "Do you have someone in there with you?" 

Thalayal closed the curtains and slipped back into the bed with a giggle. 

"You know what. Never mind. I don't want to know." He turned and left the room. He headed back down the hallway and to Donna's room instead with a sigh. 

Donna was a lovely sight, half-undressed and showing a lot of gorgeous brown skin, but she just glared at him when he came in. "Do you expect to still sleep with me tonight after that? Go on. Get out of here." 

"I'm sorry," Telkarnith said. 

"Get back to me tomorrow and I'll think about accepting your apology." 

"Am I going to have to sleep on the couch now?" 

"I'm sure your dear Rachel might have other ideas," Donna said with a snort. "Take your pick." 

"I'm not sleeping with Rachel!" Telkarnith snapped. 

"Good," Donna said. "And you're not sleeping with me, either, at least not tonight." 

Sighing in frustration, Telkarnith headed out of the room and went down to the parlor. Rachel was sitting there, sipping a cup of artu tea, and munching on some little cucumber sandwiches. 

"Isn't it a bit late in the day to be having tea?" Telkarnith commented. 

"I shouldn't think so," Rachel said with a shrug. "Not when there's plenty of good reasons to be awake for the moment, at least. What's wrong? Can't sleep, or get kicked out of bed?" 

"Didn't even get a chance to get _to_ bed, not that it's any of your business," Telkarnith said with a smirk. 

"Oh, but I could make it my business," Rachel said. "You're more than welcome to sleep in the guest room with me, after all." 

"I'm not sleeping with you, Rachel," Telkarnith said. 

"No? I suppose you'd rather sleep on the couch then? Or maybe with your mother?" She smirked back at him. 

"No!" Telkarnith said, feeling a touch ill at the thought. "Damnit, Rachel." 

"What?" Rachel said innocently. "Don't look at me. Would you like some tea?" 

"Is this all some elaborate scheme just to get into bed with me?" 

Rachel looked shocked. "Me? I would never do something like that!" 

Telkarnith chuckled softly. "I know. I was joking. But I'm still not sleeping with you. I'll just go... off... somewhere... by myself..." 

"Suit yourself," Rachel said lightly. "You know where to find me if you get lonely and change your mind." 

Telkarnith snorted softly and went off to find someplace quiet. 

* * *

"Oh, Telkarnith?" Donna said, "I'm pregnant." 

Telkarnith glanced up from Shaznith and looked over across the parlor at her. "Really?" 

"So am I," Thalayal added with a sly grin from across the room. 

Telkarnith smirked and gathered up Shaznith in his arms. The young boy would be two years old in a few months, come winter. Telkarnith really couldn't say anything about the way she flaunted her infidelity, considering his own situation. She and Donna had gotten along quite well after coming to that arrangement behind his back, although he wasn't entirely certain just who Thalayal was actually sleeping with. 

"So," Telkarnith said. "Care to let us in on who the father is? Because it's obviously not me." 

Thalayal laughed lightly, and Donna just looked at Telkarnith and said, "You mean you don't know?" 

"Sorry if I'm a bit dense. I haven't really cared to wonder just who my wife is sleeping with." 

Donna just laughed herself, and turned to Thalayal and said, "I'll go and tell him the good news." She left the room. 

"So, who?" Telkarnith said. "Really, who?" 

"Your good friend, Henry," Thalayal said. 

Telkarnith blinked at her. "I thought he was just... oh. Um. Do you even know who he really is?" 

Thalayal stared at him. "What do you mean?" 

"He hasn't told you who and what he is?" 

Thalayal shook her head. "If he's somebody other than a human gentleman by the name of Henry Stark, then I haven't a clue. He's a tad eccentric, some very odd mannerisms, but he's quite charming in his own way." 

"Right," Telkarnith muttered, setting Shaznith down. The little boy scrambled off to play with his wooden blocks. "You've known him by another name, but you probably wouldn't recognize him anyway." 

"Oh," she said. "Is he in disguise? To avoid persecution? That's so exciting and romantic!" 

"Something like that." He rubbed his head. "Promise you won't freak out if I tell you?" 

"Of course not." 

"His name is Helkhar." 

Thalayal looked at him in confusion. "That's an elvish name. Is he really a half-elf or something? The illegitimate son of a noble?" 

"You don't remember?" Telkarnith said. "You know that big wolf that used to hang around with me?" 

"What about it?" 

Telkarnith said patiently, "That's him. That's Helkhar. He's a werewolf." 

Thalayal stared at him for a long moment, and he had to start wondering if she was going to react badly to the news and what she might do. But she stayed calm, and said, "Oh. Well, that would certainly explain a few things. Like his appetite." 

"That doesn't bother you?" 

"I'd rather just someone by who they are rather than what they are," Thalayal said. "And he's the perfect gentleman, always kind and polite, positively chivalrous. In short, he's everything you're not. Also, he's much better in bed. A real animal, you might say." 

"I didn't need to know that." 

Helkhar came into the room, followed by Donna. "Is it true? Am I going to be a father?" he asked Thalayal. 

She smiled at him and nodded. "You're going to be a father, Helkhar." 

It took him a moment for the name to register. "You know?" He looked worried. 

Thalayal laughed, and went over and kissed him. "Relax. I don't mind. Although I have to wonder whether or not your children are going to turn out fuzzy too." 

"But you were always so afraid of me." 

"I was young and far from home, and I'd never seen anything like you before," Thalayal said. "But I suppose it's perfectly natural to be afraid of things which are larger and stronger than you." 

"So," Helkhar said thoughtfully. "Can we give the kids the surname 'Helkhar' then? I'm going to need an heir!" 

Telkarnith said, "But you're not even married to her." 

Helkhar looked at him in confusion. "She's my mate. Donna is yours. Isn't this 'marriage' thing more political than anything else, anyway?" 

Telkarnith sighed. "The children get the surname of the person the mother is married to, not necessarily the person who actually is their father." 

"Well, that's just wrong," Helkhar said. "How can you tell who their father actually is, then?" 

"Not acknowledged, officially anyway," Telkarnith said. "Your name won't be on any official records, anymore than Donna's will be. To the family trees, any children Thalayal has will be my children." 

Helkhar looked disappointed for a moment, then perked up again and said, "Well, that's okay. I'll know whose children they are. The wolves won't care about your politics." 

"I was always wondering why you were always so confused about things everyone else takes for granted," Thalayal said. "But I always thought it was charming and quite endearing, really." 

"At least now I can go by my real name again," Helkhar said. 

"Helkhar," Thalayal said, grinning and looking thoughtful about the name. "Helkhar. I do like the sound of that much better." She looked at him for a moment and said, "You've got a silly grin on your face. Is this where you'd be wagging your tail if you had one at the moment?" 

"Uh-huh."


	8. Shadow Puppets

Telkarnith sat in the parlor, trying to relax over a cup of artu tea, and likewise trying to ignore the sounds of arguing from down the hallway. Donna and Rachel were at it again, and he wasn't even sure what it was about this time. He knew he really ought to get Rachel to go somewhere else, but he didn't really have the heart to after she'd helped them out back in Scalyr.

Rachel stormed past, stomping her way down the hallway toward the back of the house. The doorbell jangled, and Donna called out, "Telkarnith! Someone to see you!"

Telkarnith sighed and sat aside his cup. Hopefully it was the horse buyer from Taverak he was expecting. When he got to the foyer, however, he was shocked to see a familiar face. Jack, the monster hunter he had encountered in Scalyr. What in the world was _he_ doing here? Sudden panic gripped him.

Jack just chuckled softly. "Relax, Telkarnith Chelseer. If I were here to kill you, you'd have never seen me coming."

"What are you _doing_ here?" Telkarnith wondered, raising an eyebrow and not relaxing in the least. He wondered where Helkhar was right now.

Jack didn't answer immediately. "Is Helkhar about? Because I much desire to speak with him."

"You'll forgive me if I don't leap to trusting you without some explanation," Telkarnith said. He'd be more comfortable if he had his sword with him, but he didn't tend to take to carrying it around the house. Foolish complacence, perhaps.

Jack chuckled again. "I dug up some information on you. You had excellent character witnesses, by the way. But I started to suspect something wasn't right when I couldn't get back into Port Fins. Tanivalis has all but closed its borders to anyone that they think looks suspicious. Apparently I meet their definition of suspicious. And I've heard rumors of vampiric involvement." He made a face. "In my line of work, it never hurts to suspect there's vampires involved in _anything_ , but in this case the evidence was more solid than that."

"So... you don't think that we murdered that poor girl?" Telkarnith asked.

"No," Jack said. "I know perfectly well that most werewolves keep to themselves in the wilderness and don't go randomly rampaging in cities. And I went and spoke with the Rhondar myself. I didn't trust the second-hand sources, and well I did, because they diverted investigation and made _this_ werewolf out to be more of a monster than necessary. I think they're covering up the real culprit in an attempt to frame an outsider, and blowing the entire thing out of proportion to boot. I've never seen Tanivalis turn so isolationist, and especially not over _one_ murder."

"That's... very strange," Telkarnith said, frowning. "And what about me? Didn't they think _I_ was a werewolf too?"

"Catch," Jack said, tossing something shiny at him. Reflexively, Telkarnith grabbed it out of the air. It was the silver spoon Helkhar had taken as a trophy from Port Fins. "Not a werewolf. I didn't think so. Just didn't match up with other information I found."

"Where did you get this?" Telkarnith wondered.

"It also pays to be a tad sneaky in my line of work," Jack said with a smirk.

Helkhar popped his head in at the entrance to the foyer. "Jack?" he said. "Fancy seeing you here. What brings you out all this way?"

"Ah, my good boy, Henry Stark, was it?" Jack said. "I didn't expect to see you here. Been keeping out of trouble, I hope?"

"Well, I don't _think_ I've done anything especially foolish recently, I would hope," Helkhar said with a shrug.

"Not hunting werewolves or anything?"

"Of course not," Helkhar said lightly. "That's not what _you're_ here for, is it?"

"As a matter of fact," Jack said. "I _am_ hunting a werewolf, though not to kill him or anything. If I were, he'd be dead before he ever noticed. I don't suppose you've seen a fellow by the name of Helkhar around here, have you? Probably looks like a young barbarian male in his human form. You've no doubt seen his wolf form, a huge silvery wolf. I know he's around here somewhere. I've seen him loping off into the mountains in wolf form from time to time."

Helkhar raised an eyebrow, but kept his cool. "If you're not looking to kill him, why are you looking for him? Didn't you say shapeshifters are evil or some such?"

"Not all," Jack said. "For instance, I know there's werewolves up in those mountains and that he was probably going to meet with them. But he always came back here. And Wishingsdale hasn't even had reports of sheep being killed by monsters, nevermind any people. Investigations by other parties to the contrary, I don't believe that Helkhar was actually responsible for that murder back in Port Fins, and I need to speak with him about it. It's very important."

"Jack, have you ever seen a werewolf up close?" Helkhar asked. "Have you ever actually spoken with one?"

"No," Jack said. "I've killed a couple in my day. Mad, bloodthirsty things, like rabid animals. But most of the real werewolves I've heard about never come near the cities."

Helkhar grinned broadly, and said, "Jack, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Helkhar."

Jack blinked, and stared at Helkhar for a long moment. "You... are a werewolf?" Telkarnith wasn't sure on the wisdom of telling this hunter outright who and what Helkhar was, but it was too late to back out now.

Helkhar giggled. "Uh-huh, uh-huh."

"Seriously?" Jack peered at Helkhar some more, and said, "You're obviously more man than monster, though. I'll admit that I'd never have known. You're better at this than I thought, I'll give you credit for that."

"Why don't we head back into the parlor and discuss this all over some lunch?" Helkhar suggested.

They headed back to the parlor, where they found Rachel quietly fuming over a cup of tea. She raised an eyebrow when she saw who their guest was. Telkarnith didn't trust inviting this man into their home and offering to eat with him, but he wasn't going to refuse Helkhar, as unwise as it might be.

Jack said, "I don't believe I've introduced myself properly, either. My name is Jack Goldenkey, originally from Scalyr."

"Goldenkey?" Rachel said. "They're one of the wealthiest of the human merchant noble houses..."

Telkarnith smirked. "Going to start trying to hit on him instead of me, then?"

"Well..." Rachel said thoughtfully.

"I'm not looking," Jack said with a smirk.

"Rachel, would you go ask Thalayal to see about getting lunch ready?" Helkhar said.

"Hmph. Alright, then." Rachel stormed out of the room.

"What was that about?" Helkhar asked.

"I have no idea. She's weird." Telkarnith shrugged.

Jack chuckled softly. "The joys of noble life? You see why I spend all my time hunting monsters rather than hanging around my house?"

"You have a point there," Telkarnith said.

"So, you really could have killed me without me ever noticing you?" Helkhar said.

"That's what crossbows are for," Jack said. "You don't mind if I, you know examine you a bit, try to learn a few things? I've never actually had a chance to get an up-close look at a werewolf who wasn't trying to gnaw my face off before. And I've already seen quite clearly that some of what I thought I knew was wrong. You obviously don't have hairy palms or a unibrow."

"Well, alright," Helkhar said. "But can it wait until after lunch? I'm starved."

Jack nodded. "I want you to tell me everything you can remember about that night."

"Well," Helkhar said. "I was feeling uneasy and restless, and couldn't sleep. I went outside for a bit, and I smelled something wrong. Like something that had been dead for a while and was starting to rot. I heard dogs outside, barking and howling incessantly. They sounded distressed by something."

Telkarnith added, "My shaman friend thought it was a chupacabra, whatever that is."

"I'm not discounting it, at this point," Jack said with a shrug. "But you know the number one reason why I know you didn't do it? There were more deaths. Even months after you were driven out of town. The people in Port Fins were too panicked about it to think reasonably and kept blaming them on roving packs of werewolves. They insisted that you'd gone and rallied entire packs of monsters against them."

"And we haven't even been back there at all," Helkhar said, frowning. "I hope too many people haven't been hurt."

"Do you know anything else about what has been happening in Port Fins?" Telkarnith asked.

"Precious little," Jack said. "Rumors that have trickled out, and what they've told any travellers they didn't like trying to get in. I haven't been able to go in and do more investigating. They've let in very few even merchants -- usually just bought their goods at the border and took them the rest of the way themselves. Tanivalis doesn't want to deal with the rest of Kalor at the moment."

"They can't possibly patrol the entire border," Telkarnith said. "Sure, there's a few major passes that they can watch over coming in, but you could still cross over almost anywhere, never mind leagues of coastline you could land on."

"And that's made them only all the more paranoid," Jack said. "The monsters had to get in from somewhere, right?" He snorted softly. "They never stop to consider that the monsters might already have been in their midst."

Rachel came back into the parlor carrying a tray full of sandwiches and more tea, and said brightly, "Lunch is served." Telkarnith wondered at the sudden mood shift, but didn't feel like saying anything and inviting more trouble.

"What, that's it?" Helkhar said, looking at the measly little sandwiches.

"Telkarnith said 'lunch', not 'nine-course banquet'," Rachel said, sitting down and inviting herself to join them. "A pleasure to meet you, sir. My name is Rachel Cor."

"I'm still not looking," Jack replied.

"Oh, far be it from me to be so crass," Rachel said lightly. "I'm not that kind of girl."

Jack sighed softly and rolled his eyes, and turned his attention back toward Telkarnith and Helkhar. "It would help to find a way back into Port Fins to find out what's really going on in there. I had hoped you might be able to tell me something of use, but this winds up only bringing out more questions."

"Port Fins has shut their gates?" Rachel said, raising an eyebrow.

Jack nodded. "No outsiders are being allowed inside."

"How do they know who's an outsider and who's not?" Helkhar wondered.

"You know, that's a good question," Jack said. "They didn't ask me for any papers or anything. But I haven't heard of them keeping people from _leaving_."

"It's the gloves," Rachel said smugly.

The others all turned to look at her.

"What?" Rachel said. "Didn't you ever notice that everyone from Port Fins seems to wear gloves all the time, whether or not they're in Port Fins at the time?"

"I wasn't really paying that much attention to what they were wearing," Telkarnith said.

"Hmph. Men." Rachel sniffed. "You think you know all about fighting and killing, but you know nothing about blending in and making yourself seem to belong where you don't. And you never _pay attention_."

"Is it really that obvious?" Telkarnith said.

"Well, _I_ thought it was, anyway," Rachel said. "They're big about covering up every bit of skin they can, even in the summer. Prudish sorts."

Jack frowned thoughtfully. "Well, if you're such an expert in disguise and subterfuge, Rachel Cor, you think you can get me into Port Fins?"

"Us, you mean," Telkarnith put in.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Sorry, I work alone, and I don't need to be babysitting youngsters with delusions of grandeur, either."

"Aww," Helkhar said. "But I want to go, too!"

"I'm sure we can be useful," Telkarnith said. "I'd love to know what's going on, myself... and I'm dying to get out of this house. Besides, didn't you want to learn more about werewolves?"

Jack sighed. "There's going to be trouble, you know. You could all wind up killed. There may well be vampires involved somehow, and that's always bad news."

"I'm willing to risk it," Telkarnith said. "And I _am_ trained as a shaman. Those abilities might come in useful as well."

"Fine then. You, me, the werewolf, and the mistress of disguise here," Jack said. "I'm not worried about _her_. She seems to be able to take care of herself."

As if sensing that they were discussing going somewhere without her, Donna appeared at the parlor door. "Ah, we have company?" she asked. "What's going on here? Did I overhear mention of going somewhere?"

"You're not going anywhere, Donna," Telkarnith said, giving her a hard look. "Definitely not until that baby is born. That's non-negotiable, so don't even think about it."

Donna sighed, but didn't argue. "Fine, fine. But don't even look sideways at that floozy," she said, pointedly avoiding looking at Rachel. "And would you bring me back some korlag cake?"

"Having cravings again?" Telkarnith said with a smirk. "Fine, if all works out, I'll bring you all the korlag you want." 

Donna said, "You do that." She headed out of the room again.

"So," Telkarnith said, turning to Jack, "when do we leave?"

* * *

"You know, Telkarnith," Jack said, looking across the campfire at him and poking it with a stick. "I haven't known many elven nobles who kept human mistresses."

Telkarnith groaned softly and said, "Was it that obvious?" He didn't really want that to become public knowledge, anymore than it already had. It was probably too late for that anyway, though.

Jack snickered softly. "Don't get me wrong, it's not like I actually _care_ or anything, I'm just a little surprised, is all. Most elf nobles I've known still think of humans as children who need to be taught and guided."

"I never thought that," Telkarnith replied.

Helkhar was off hunting down some fresh meat for them (although mostly for himself), and Rachel was inside the cart working on their disguises still. It felt weird traveling with an actual cart and horses for once, but they were trying to play the part of merchants from Port Fins returning home with goods. It meant for slower traveling, though. They had barely made it across the Rhetain Mountains and into southern Flyland after a week of travel. Telkarnith was glad that the horses bred on his ranch didn't seem bothered by Helkhar's presence. Most other horses seemed terrified of him.

Telkarnith thought he heard movement from the foliage, and turned to look, expecting to see Helkhar back with dinner. But instead, he found their camp surrounded by unkempt men with weapons.

"Look what we have here, boys," said one of them. He had nicer clothing and a nice-looking sword and chainmail, so he might have been their leader. "A merchant noble caravan without enough guards. It's unfortunate. These are dangerous parts, you know. Anything might happen to you, and no one would be the wiser. I suggest handing over a bit of coin for your own protection."

Telkarnith stared at them for a long moment, hand drifting to his sword hilt. "What, you're not seriously attempting to rob us, are you?" He hoped that Jack would back him up here.

"Of course not," said the bandit leader. "We're simple tax collectors. Now hand over your safety tax, or we won't be able to guarantee your continued safety."

"How about 'no'?" Telkarnith said impatiently.

"Well, that's unfortunate," said the leader. "Because as you might have noticed, there's only two of you and six of us."

Telkarnith drew his sword and said, "It would be unfortunate were anything to happen to _you_ , because no one's going to miss a bunch of bandits."

"Hah," said the leader, lunging at him with his sword.

Jack was behind him with his own sword. The man was a skilled fighter, and Telkarnith noticed that now his own skills far outshone those of their adversaries. The spirit of his ancestor inside the blade was not commenting on his foolishness this time. Telkarnith hadn't quite trusted Jack and had been worried about fighting alongside him, but the hunter had his back and didn't let him down.

After Telkarnith sliced halfway through their leader's neck, the bandits quickly realized that they were outmatched. This didn't save them, however. The one survivor who tried to flee ran face-first into a wall of fur and muscle. He screamed in terror as Helkhar knocked him aside into a tree. Bones crunched and the tree shuddered, a couple fruits plopping to the ground beside the body.

Rachel climbed out of the cart and looked around at their bloody handiwork. "Tsk, what a mess. Helkhar, did you bring dinner?"

"Uh-huh," Helkhar said, nodding and changing back into human form. He dragged in a large deer. "I get the good bits, right?"

"Of course," Rachel said. "Nobody else _wants_ the internal organs. Could you boys make yourselves useful and clean up these bodies while I get dinner ready?"

Rachel set in to casually cleaning and butchering the deer. Telkarnith shrugged and helped move the bodies away from their campsite. Jack checked the bandits' belongings and dug out some coins and jewelry from their clothing.

"Looks like we weren't the first ones they tried to rob recently," Jack commented.

"Is that silver?" Helkhar said, glancing over. "Sheesh. Good thing they didn't try beating me to death with women's earrings." He pouted a bit, and added, "But I almost missed out on the fun entirely! You could have at least waited for me." He grinned broadly.

"Sorry," Telkarnith said lightly. "Next time I'll tell the people trying to skewer us and take our stuff to please wait a few minutes for our large, hairy friend to come back so he can bash their heads in."

"So," Jack said, pocketing the valuables and turning to Helkhar. "You can change form at will?"

"Uh-huh," Helkhar said. "Though certain phases of the moon make me want to change more."

"Certain phases? You mean when the moons are full?"

"No," Helkhar said. "When Halladan is new, or when Thondorron is half. Those were the moons I was born under and made my first change under."

"Huh," Jack said. "Interesting."

They returned to camp, where Rachel had neatly set aside the "good bits" for Helkhar and was busy roasting the rest of the meat. Helkhar cheerfully sat down to munch on his bonus portion raw.

"You know," Jack said, "I'd be more worried if I _didn't_ know that was a deer."

* * *

They reached the primary pass from Flyland into Tanivalis in another two weeks. A hastily erected border outpost stood in the pass, and some other travelers were using it as a makeshift way stop, especially as it appeared that this group would be heading back the way they came.

Telkarnith and his party were donned up in the latest Port Fins fashions that Rachel had carefully concocted. To hide his ears, she'd given Telkarnith a ridiculous foppish purple hat with a large plume in it. He felt ridiculous in it.

"Let me do the talking," Rachel murmured to them as they approached the waypoint.

Some grim-looking guards approached their little caravan and said, "Please halt for inspection before proceeding into Tanivalis."

"Of course," Rachel said. "I hope this doesn't take too long. We've had a long journey and are eager to get home."

"Don't worry, ma'am," the guard captain said. "This will only take a moment. Although I might caution you that you may want to remain in Port Fins once you arrive there. Times may be getting rough for us in the near future, and you wouldn't want to be caught somewhere unpleasant during that. May we check what's in your cart?"

"Certainly," Rachel said. "Go right ahead. Just trade goods, straight from Hrackston."

The guards went over and poked through their cart a bit, and after a cursory inspection, seemed satisfied that their trade was legitimate. "Alright, everything checks out here," said the captain. "Go on through. Good journey."

As they led the horses on through, a merchant from the other caravan called out, "Hey! Why do they get to go through and we don't?"

The guard captain said, "Cool your horses. They're just Tanivalis natives coming home. Now, do you want us to pay for your goods and send you on your way, or just turn you back empty-handed with a full cart?"

The merchants continued to grumble as Telkarnith and his group went past, but that silenced the louder protests. They made their way through the pass and into the valley of Tanivalis without further incident.

Once safely well away from the outpost, Telkarnith said, "That went better than I thought it would."

Rachel chuckled. "It's all about playing into expectations. People see what they want to see. You just have to make sure that they want to see what you want them to see."

* * *

They arrived at the gates to Port Fins a week later, which appeared to be much more heavily guarded than the mountain pass. It stood to reason, as there was only so much one could feasibly put on the border and still not be able to control everyone coming in, but the city itself may as well be preparing for a siege.

"Please halt for inspection," said the guards at the gate.

Rachel sighed. "Is this going to take long? I want to get home already."

The guards came over and looked through their cart, but one of them gave a long look at Telkarnith. He shifted nervously, trying to look nonchalant. It wouldn't do to blow their cover so close to Port Fins.

"Which one of you is in charge here?" the guard asked them.

"I am," Rachel said.

"I'd rather speak with your husband or brother, woman," the guard said, snorting.

"That would be me," Helkhar piped up, stepping into role without missing a beat. "But I would prefer if you did not speak to my wife in that tone of voice. She's the best merchant I've ever known, whatever you might think."

The guard sighed, and said, "Fine. My apologies. Can I get your names?"

"I'm Henry Stark," Helkhar said. "This is my wife, Rachel, and my cousin Thomas. And our hired man, John Black."

The guard mulled over this for a moment, then went over and plucked off Telkarnith's hat with a gloved hand, revealing his pointed ears.

"Hey!" Telkarnith exclaimed.

"Henry, your 'cousin' here is an elf," the guard said.

Henry rolled his eyes. "Half-elf, technically. My uncle had a thing for the elf girls. Drove Grandma nuts."

The guard shoved the hat back at Telkarnith, and muttered, "Too damned common of a thing lately, if you ask me. We teppers should keep the blood pure, I say. Not dilute it with human or elf or what-have-you."

"I agree completely," Henry said, sighing long-sufferingly. "But I'm still not going to disown him over it or anything, even if he _is_ a mongrel. The poor guy's embarrassed enough about it as it is."

Telkarnith pulled the hat back on his head, doing his best to look embarrassed.

"Alright, alright," the guard said, shaking his head a bit. "Everything else seems to check out. You're free to enter the city."

They headed on through the gates, Rachel muttering, "Finally. And do we really have to drag your doof of a cousin along everywhere, Henry?"

So far so good. They'd gotten in the city, at least. First things first, they went and found a merchant to sell off their cart and trade goods to. All that junk was legitimate, at least. Once that was taken care of, Rachel pulled them aside to a quiet area to speak in.

"We're probably going to need a place to stay while we investigate," Rachel said.

"Can't we just stay at an inn?" Telkarnith asked.

"They've cut off all travel, though," Rachel said. "That'd look awfully suspicious."

"Why would it have to?" Helkhar asked. "I've got an idea. Just trust me and follow my lead, okay?"

"Lead on," Rachel said, giving him a bit of an amused look and a slight grin.

Helkhar led them off to a nearby inn, a somewhat seedy looking establishment, if not completely rundown. The common room was empty, without even any sign of whoever might run the place.

"Hallo?" Helkhar called out. "Anyone home?"

There came sounds of grumbling from the next room, and after a minute, a man looking at least half-drunk stumbled through the door. "What is it? What do you want?" he slurred.

"I'm sorry," Helkhar said. "Is this establishment closed at the moment?"

"Hardly gotten any customers since they closed the gates," the man said. "Business is terrible. At least I still get the occasional people coming in for food and drinks with their friends, but it's too early for that. You people looking for lunch?"

"Yeah, lunch sounds good," Helkhar said. "Also, I was looking to book a room for the night. On the quiet, you know... we've got some stuff planned, don't want the missus finding out about it, do we?" He grinned slyly.

"Hah, you're a lifesaver," the man said, laughing uproarously. "Yeah, I'll take your coin and keep it quiet, she won't hear about it from me! The place is empty -- the only places getting any business are down at the docks, and my place is too far for them to bother with. They're letting in some of the Unarians, but not anybody else."

"Why are they letting in the Unarians?" Telkarnith asked.

"Damned if I know," the innkeeper said. "Money or politics, I don't know which, don't really care, either. Anyway, I'll see about digging up some grub for you people. What would you like?"

"Whatever you've got, and plenty of it, on me," Helkhar said with a grin. "And don't go shy on the meat, either."

Helkhar handed the man some money. The four of them took a seat at a table to wait for the innkeeper to bring out their food, and Telkarnith commented, "This was all just a ploy to get you lunch, wasn't it."

Helkhar giggled and said, "Uh-huh, uh-huh."

Telkarnith was amazed at how far Helkhar had come from the awkward young werewolf who had visited Port Fins before. He had proven to be quite the quick learner -- especially when learning things that would lead to food.

After eating a hearty meal, they went upstairs to talk in private. Jack said, "I'd like to do some investigating on my own. You three should try to stay out of trouble in the meantime."

"I'm sure we can manage to dig up some information ourselves," Telkarnith said.

Jack snorted. " _You_ , Telkarnith, are about as subtle as a rampaging minotaur. I work best alone, and one person can get into places three or four couldn't. Feel free to poke around yourselves if you like, but do please try not to get anyone trying to kill _me_ in the process, will you?"

"Hey, contrary to what some here might think, I am not a complete bumbling fool," Telkarnith said with a smirk.

"Only a partial bumbling fool," Rachel quipped. "Anyway, I'm going to go take a look around on my own as well. I know quite well how to be invisible in plain sight, and I might spot something you'd miss. Telkarnith, if you really want to go out yourself, please stick with Helkhar and listen to his advice."

Telkarnith stared at her, practically gaping. "You-- wait-- hey!" Helkhar giggled.

"Unless it involves meat," Rachel quickly added.

"Aww," Helkhar said. "I can be subtle and eat meat, too!"

"Just be careful," Rachel said. "They're extra-paranoid about werewolves at the moment. You don't want to be run out of town with torches and silver spoons again."

"Right," Helkhar said.

The four of them headed off out of the inn later that afternoon and split up, heading off in separate directions and vanishing into the crowds. Telkarnith muttered under his breath, "I still hate this hat."

Between his shaman senses and Helkhar's wolf senses, Telkarnith hoped that they might be able to pick up something that might be out of the ordinary around here. At the moment, however, he was still wondering what in the world the Unarians were doing here if the people of Tanivalis were keeping out all other outsiders.

"Let's head down to the docks," Telkarnith said quietly aside to Helkhar. "We can pick up a bite to eat for dinner at one of the inns there."

The smell of salty air was strong down by the waterfront, but he couldn't shake the feeling of something being not quite right, almost as though someone were watching them. A medium-sized dog barked at them from an alleyway before running off into the shadows. They headed inside one of the inns, and found it boisterously crowded with sailors, most of them gloveless.

The two of them went up to the man behind the bar, who said, "Don't got any rooms for non-sailors. Can get you ale and supper if you want, though."

"That'll be fine," Telkarnith said.

"A nice plate of meat for me," Helkhar said. "Whatever kind you've got." He passed over some coins.

"Have a seat wherever you can find room. I'll be with you in a moment," the barkeep said.

All the tables in the common room were occupied, however, so they looked for empty seats at the end of one of the larger tables. The sailors were gambling over a card game further down the table.

"Hey," Helkhar said. "You people mind if we sit here? The place is packed."

"Heh," said one of the sailors, scoffing at them. "Landlubbers. Deal you boys in? Bet you don't have the skill _or_ the luck to beat us."

"Well, if you like, but I'm afraid I don't know how to play," Helkhar admitted.

"Bah, poker's easy," said the sailor. He gave a quick rundown of the rules.

"I think I've got it," Helkhar said. "Go ahead, deal in me and my cousin." He pulled a coin out of his pocket and tossed it in the pile.

The dealer flicked some cards at them. Telkarnith looked at his. Nothing good. His complete lack of poker face must have been obvious, as the sailors were sniggering at him. The barkeep came by and sat down mugs of ale for them, and said, "Your dinner will be along shortly."

Helkhar looked at his cards, then leaned over to Telkarnith and showed them to him, and said, "Are these good?"

Telkarnith's eyes widened a bit. Two men across the table promptly folded. Helkhar looked over at them in confusion. "Okay, maybe I don't quite get this game yet." He smirked.

Their food arrived, and they played a few more hands. Helkhar caught on quickly enough once he figured out the rules, and figured out not to ask Telkarnith to help. Telkarnith, for his part, proceeded to lose every single hand. Helkhar seemed a natural at bluffing, however, and started winning enough for the both of them.

"You're better at this than I gave you credit for, son," a sailor said. "Don't often see the landlubbers willing to go head to head with us sailors."

"What makes you think I'm a landlubber?" Helkhar asked.

The sailor laughed. "It's pretty obvious. I bet you've never even been on a ship in your life."

"Well, no, you're right, I haven't," Helkhar said. "You don't find it scary to be surrounded by all that water?"

"Heh. It's our life, is what it is. The name's Wesley, by the way."

"Henry," Helkhar said. "I'm surprised to see so many Unarians in town."

Wesley shrugged. "We come where we're told to. I don't get involved in politics."

"So who sent you here?" Helkhar asked.

"Eh," Wesley said. "Our orders come from the Duke of Westraldine. They've waived all tariffs for trade with Tanivalis. Port Fins is almost Unarian territory now. There's been talk of helping secure the city with a Unarian military presence."

"Really?" Helkhar said. "I'm sure we could certainly use the protection, what with all the nasty things going on lately."

"It'll be a beneficial arrangement all around," Wesley said. "From the sounds of things, Flyland's going to throw in their lot with Unar also. And best of all, I get paid. Another hand?"

"Sure."

* * *

The sun had set by the time they left the inn and headed back out onto the streets again. "We should probably head back," Telkarnith said. "The others are likely waiting for us." He lowered his voice and said, "Is something wrong?"

"Something smells funny," Helkhar said. "Can't you at least sense it?"

Telkarnith looked around. He certainly felt something not quite right, although he couldn't put his finger on it. An almost palpable presence of evil. "Yeah..." he murmured. "Let's hurry up."

Around them, there were the sounds of dogs barking and snarling in the near distance, and coming closer. The street seemed suddenly very empty aside from the two of them. They didn't get far. Dogs leaped out of the shadows, growling and snapping at them. An entire pack of large, vicious dogs was upon them in moments.

Reflexively, Telkarnith drew his sword. "What the--"

Helkhar was behind him, huge and hairy, swatting away the dogs as best as he could. They were vicious things, perhaps rabid, and kept fighting until they couldn't move any longer. Telkarnith tried to make sure that none of them bit them, for fear of catching whatever might have infected them.

Once the dogs were down, Telkarnith peered about to make sure there weren't any others. "Why the hell did they attack us?" he wondered.

Helkhar, returning to human form, said, "I hope nobody saw that."

"Did any of them bite you?" Telkarnith said.

"Yeah, but not bad, it'll heal quick enough," Helkhar said.

"I hope they didn't infect you with anything," Telkarnith said, frowning. "Let's get back to the inn, before anything else leaps out at us."

"Good idea."

They hurried back to the inn, keeping an eye out for anything else that might look to attack them. If anyone noticed the fight in the alleyways or Helkhar's shapeshifting, they didn't seem immediately inclined to run them out of town. They got back to the inn without further incident. They slipped in the back way to avoid the common room, and headed up the stairs. Jack and Rachel were already in their room waiting for them.

"What happened?" Rachel demanded. "You didn't blow our cover, did you?"

"Your concern for our well-being is touching," Telkarnith said dryly. "We were attacked by a pack of rabid dogs." He described the encounter.

"Strange," Rachel said.

"Rabid dogs?" Jack said, frowning. "No, I think they were something much worse. Ghoul hounds." He pulled out his repeating crossbow and started fiddling with it and swapping out ammunition as he talked. "A little taste of vampire blood, and something becomes a ghoul. Bloodthirsty and enslaved to the vampire in question. Ghoul animals can be especially vicious."

Helkhar said, "I thought something smelled funny."

"So, wait a minute," Telkarnith said. "You don't suppose these ghoul dogs might have been responsible for the killing of the inn girl when we were here before, and the subsequent deaths, do you?"

"Entirely likely," Jack said. "Not knowing any better, people might have thought that werewolves were responsible." He looked over at Telkarnith. "You weren't followed back, were you?"

"I don't _think_ so..." Telkarnith said, frowning.

"Not good enough," Jack said, shaking his head. "Always assume the worst. And I'm assuming that a vampire was watching you and sent his hounds upon you, then traced you the entire way back here. Get changed real quick, then let's go down to the common room for the moment. If they're trying to keep a low profile, they'd be less likely to try something in the midst of a crowd."

Telkarnith and Helkhar changed out of their torn clothing and into fresh garb. Thankfully, Rachel had prepared more than one set of clothes for each of them, just in case. Then the four of them headed downstairs. The common room wasn't as crowded as the one down by the docks had been, but there were at least a dozen people hanging around, drinking. They took a seat at an empty table in the corner and ordered some food and drink.

Their food had barely arrived before the door opened up to admit three men, who headed over toward the bar and ordered drinks. Telkarnith noticed something felt really wrong about them, especially the one in the middle. Most people's spirits felt vibrant and alive to some extent, but that one felt... dead. A perversion of life that should not be walking around.

"Don't stare," Jack said quietly. "Keep your head down. And whatever you do, do _not_ look him in the eye."

"I think they've already noticed us," Helkhar said softly, burying his face in his food.

Telkarnith said, "Is that--"

Jack said, "Quiet. And I'd know that face even if I didn't suspect what he was. That's the monster who murdered my sister."

"Shit," Telkarnith whispered.

"I don't like this," Rachel murmured. "I'm leaving."

"Rachel, wait--" Telkarnith hissed. She ignored him and slipped out the door into the night.

The vampire casually approached their table, bracketed by his companions, and said to them, "Well, now, fancy meeting you here. I wasn't aware that they served dogs here now."

"You're awfully cocky for a bloodsucker," Jack said.

"Such cheek!" the vampire said. "Although I suppose I could not expect to converse like civilized beings with this sort of ilk. Are these people aware of just what they're harboring in their midst, hmm?"

Helkhar said lightly, "Probably not, otherwise they'd be trying to kill you, too."

The vampire chuckled. "It walks like a man, it speaks like a man, all the while trying to hide the animal underneath its skin. Most amusing."

Helkhar smirked. "I'd rather not sit here and pointlessly trade insults. What exactly do you want with me?"

"Direct and to the point," the vampire said. "Ah, the art of subtlety is lost on your kind. No matter. Allow me to introduce myself, if you will. My name is Morgan Windsor. Perhaps, rather than all this needless animosity, we can come to some sort of mutually beneficial arrangement, instead. I doubt that you would be willing to agree to such a thing, however. Your kind has never been known for being reasonable and civil."

"Perhaps not," Helkhar said. "Try me anyway. What do you want?"

"Oh, there is much that might be accomplished through cooperation. I could see to it that you're treated like a king, with all the bitches and food you could possibly desire, and all you'd need to do is handle a few small favors for me."

"I already have all that, thanks," Helkhar said with a smirk. "I've got a better proposal for you. You leave me and my pack alone, and I don't rip your damned face off."

"So crude," Morgan said, tsking and shaking his head. He turned away, clasping his gloved hands behind his back and stepping to pace toward the center of the room. Then there was a sound as Jack's crossbow fired, and a wooden bolt was suddenly jutting out of the vampire's back.

Morgan's startled companions, large, burly men themselves, quickly moved to protect him. Telkarnith drew his sword, thinking that they were going to be run out of town by an angry mob. Again. The common room erupted into chaos as half-drunk patrons alternately joined in the brawl, attempted to separate people, or tried to call the guards.

"Damned cocky son of a bitch," Jack spat, quickly firing a few more shots from his repeating crossbow at the vampire's men.

Telkarnith hoped that Helkhar would keep his head and stay in human form, but it was too late. The large, hairy wolf-man went over to the vampire's prone body and ripped his head from his shoulders. Between sword, crossbow, and werewolf, the crowd quickly thinned and decided that this fight wasn't one they were going to win. The ones who were still standing, anyway. The remaining patrons scattered.

"Good work, Helkhar," Jack said. "Let's see if there's anything decently flammable."

"This watered-down ale isn't going to burn very well," Telkarnith said dryly. "And I think it's a bit late to go back into the kitchen and ask if they have any garlic."

"See what you can find anyway, and hurry it up," Jack said, taking the moment's breather to reload his crossbow with fresh quarrels.

Telkarnith went back into the kitchen, and located a clove of garlic, some cooking oil, and a candlestick. Feeling a little ridiculous about it, he came back out into the common room and proceeded to shove the garlic into the mouth of the severed head and douse the body in oil, then ignited it. It wasn't particularly eager to burn, and Telkarnith muttered at the waste of time, all the while wanting to be as far away from this place as soon as possible.

"I think it's kind of, sort of burning now," Telkarnith said. "We don't exactly have time to burn this thing to ash or scatter the ashes in sunlight, either, you know. And do we even _have_ holy water on us?"

"At least you were taking notes," Jack said. "Maybe we should take the body with us and destroy it properly when we're someplace safe."

"Great plan," Telkarnith muttered. "I'm surprised the guards aren't already here."

"Gather up the body and let's go," Jack said.

Helkhar said, "Guy was a bastard anyway."

They grabbed the body and headed outside. There was a commotion down the street as people with torches headed toward their location. "Here we go again," Telkarnith muttered. One of the horses was missing. Perhaps Rachel had already made good on her escape. Jack swung himself up on the other one, and they quickly secured the body behind him.

"Let's ride!" Helkhar said, shifting into wolf form.

Telkarnith didn't argue. He climbed up on Helkhar's back and they made a break for it. As they approached the city gates, however, they realized that the gates were securely closed.

"Aw, shit," Telkarnith said. "What are we going to--"

Helkhar didn't even pause. Telkarnith held on for dear life as he realized Helkhar was going to just keep running straight at the gate. He buried his face in Helkhar's fur as the huge wolf collided with the gate, sending wood splintering around them. Guards shouted futilely at them as they stormed past, and a couple arrows flew past their heads.

After a while, they managed to lose their pursuers in the woods, and continued on well past midnight to be sure that they were safe. They made camp and started up a fire, and rested.

Telkarnith sighed, leaning against a tree and watching the dead vampire finally burn properly. "I think that was less than helpful, all things considered," he commented. "Jack, what the hell were you doing, attacking him in the middle of the inn like that?"

"I prefer to take whatever opportunities present themselves," Jack said.

"Right," Telkarnith said. "So we've got confirmation. There was a vampire involved and screwing around with stuff."

"I doubt he was the only one," Helkhar said. "I get the feeling that there's more of them out there."

"Well, we've scored a major victory today, anyway," Jack said. "We took down a high-ranking monster."

"High-ranking?" Telkarnith said. "Hell no. Don't count him as being more important just because it was personal. Were you even paying attention? That guy was totally a toady. That was way too easy. And no one remotely high-ranking would strike at us so _openly_ like that, exposing themselves in the process. That guy struck me as nothing but a young fool just _playing_ at being a manipulative bastard."

Jack stared at him for a long moment, and then said, "Sadly, you're probably right. We'd best be cautious."

"I hope Rachel is alright," Telkarnith said. "Let's get this dead bloodsucker dealt with, and then get back to Wishingsdale as quick as we can. The others need to know about this."


	9. Thorn Valley

"Okay, guys, repeat after me," Telkarnith said. "I will not shoot the vampire in the back in a public place. I will not turn into a werewolf in a public place."

"I will not turn into a werewolf in a public place," Helkhar repeated.

Telkarnith looked over at the other. "Jack?"

"What?" Jack said, smirking.

"I will not shoot the vampire in the back in a public place," Telkarnith pressed.

"Hey, it was a perfect opportunity," Jack said.

"Yeah, and if we hadn't been there, you'd have been _dead_ and still failed to kill the bloodsucker," Telkarnith pointed out. "We could have killed him _without_ getting run out of town by an angry mob. Or better, found out who he was working for and why he was doing all this."

"So you're an expert on vampires now?" Jack said.

Telkarnith snorted softly. "I'm really not very impressed with your supposed expertise. I still can't believe you shot that vampire in the back!"

Donna appeared in the doorway of the parlor and said, "I haven't seen that Rachel bitch around anywhere. Did you finally decide to do the smart thing and ditch her?"

"No, she did the smart thing and ditched _us_ ," Telkarnith replied dryly. "I don't know where she ran off to, but at least _she_ wasn't chased out of town with torches and pitchforks. She might turn up sometime."

"Oh," Donna said. "That's too bad."

"What the hell do you have against her, anyway?" Telkarnith said.

"Besides the fact that she's a bitch and has her eye on my man? Nothing," Donna said lightly, turning and strolling out of the room.

Telkarnith muttered, "I think I'm starting to really hate women."

"Now you see why I'm not looking," Jack said. "The one I've got is bad enough."

"Wait, you're married?" Telkarnith said.

Jack smirked. "And again, why I spend all my time hunting monsters and avoiding home."

The doorbell rang, and momentarily afterward, Winder made his way into the parlor. "Hey, Tel. How you doing? I heard something happened up in Port Fins."

Telkarnith groaned. "Stupid news travels fast, I see. Don't tell me that this is all over the area already?"

"Nah, not yet," Winder said. "It wouldn't do to be run out of your home village by an angry mob or anything."

"We really need to work on that 'discretion' thing," Telkarnith said with a smirk. "It wouldn't do for anyone to trace us back here. Wishingsdale doesn't even have walls or guards. But if Jack could find us here..."

Jack shook his head. "I did a fair bit of poking around before I located the place, otherwise I wouldn't even know this little speck existed. There's Chelseers all over the place. But your concern is not unwarranted. Vampires have ways of gaining information beyond the means of mortals."

"I'd rather not be putting the women and children in anymore danger than necessary," Telkarnith said.

Helkhar piped in, "We could go hang out with the werewolves. I'm sure they won't mind."

"Well, I appreciate the offer, but camping out in the forest wasn't quite what I had in mind," Telkarnith said.

"No, they have villages!" Helkhar said. "Little isolated communities around sacred places, they call them caerns. They have their human kin there too."

Telkarnith stared. "And they wouldn't mind the likes of me or Jack around there? He kills shapeshifters, after all."

"I only kill the ones who deserve it," Jack said.

"Still. If these places are so sacred, I can't imagine they'd be too welcoming of outsiders."

"I'm sure they'll understand," Helkhar said. "We could just take Thalayal there where she and the cubs will be safe. I'm sure they wouldn't refuse my own kin."

Winder added, "And we could send Donna back to Roulden for the time being, at least until the baby's born. They wouldn't make any connection between her there. And my family can take care of the little one if and when she decides to go out and be silly with you guys again." He smirked.

"Winder, could you go find the girls and send them in here, please? My mother, also?" Telkarnith said.

"Right," Winder said, heading out of the parlor.

"So," Telkarnith said, turning to Helkhar. "You've been meeting with these werewolves up in the mountains, right? I never even knew there were any of them up there."

Jack chuckled, and said, "There's more shapeshifters in the world than you have any inkling of, boy."

Helkhar nodded. "There's a place up there called Thorn Valley. It's really tucked away and you'd never know it was there if you didn't know where to look. And that's if the werewolves even let you anywhere near it."

"What's this about werewolves?" Thalayal said, entering the room.

Helkhar smiled when he saw her, and went over to her to hug her and rub her belly. "You might be in danger here. So I want to take you up to this nice little village up in the mountains where you'll be safe. It's a beautiful place. You'll love it, I'm sure. Werewolves live there, and they can protect you."

"Oh, that sounds nice," Thalayal said. "When are we going?"

"Who's going where?" Tevriel wondered, coming into the room herself.

"Ah, there you are, Mother," Telkarnith said. "We may have inadvertently drawn the attention of hostile forces, and I don't want them to come back to find my family here. We're going to go away from here and send Thalayal and Shaznith somewhere that they'll be safe for the time being. What about you, Mother? And is my brother planning on coming home anytime soon?"

"I'll be fine," Tevriel said. "Somebody's got to take care of the house and tend to affairs here. And Kior is staying in Fendarlai."

"You could be killed," Telkarnith said.

Tevriel laughed lightly. "I'm not worried. And if I am, and you're on the other side of the world, at least I'll be secure in the knowledge that they came to entirely the wrong place to find you." She grinned, and added, "The horses always miss you while you're away."

Donna and Winder finally showed up. Donna bickered, "I am not going to go hiding away in Roulden Trisa!"

"I told you, it's just until the baby is born," Winder said. "You can be as silly as you like after that."

Donna sighed, and looked to Telkarnith. "I am never having another one of these things, you know. And that reminds me, did you bring me any korlag cake?"

"No, Donna. We were busy fleeing for our lives. Sorry."

"Relax, Donna, it'll be fine," Winder said.

Telkarnith rubbed his temples. "We can get ready and leave in the morning," he said. "If that's alright with everyone?"

* * *

They set off early the next morning. Donna and Winder parted ways just outside of Wishingsdale, heading south for Roulden Trisa, while Telkarnith, Helkhar, Thalayal, and Jack headed eastward into the mountains. Telkarnith wasn't too concerned about Rachel finding them or not. At least if she turned up at Wishingsdale later, she'd probably be safe enough.

"How far it is?" Telkarnith asked, adjusting the harness he was carrying Shaznith with. The boy was old enough to walk, certainly, but he wouldn't be able to keep up with a journey through the mountains.

"Closer than you'd ever have guessed," Helkhar said with a grin. "Thalayal, want a ride?" He shifted into wolf form and crouched down before her.

"Oh..." Thalayal said, carefully climbing onto Helkhar's back. "Be gentle with me. It's my first time."

Telkarnith commented, "This is just wrong in so many ways."

Helkhar led the way through the mountains. Jack kept his crossbow ready the entire way, just in case, but they didn't encounter trouble along the way there. The going was rough, and while there was something of a path, it wasn't one that Telkarnith would have ever noticed. At one point, Helkhar led them up to a sheer cliff face overgrown with vines.

"Did we take a wrong turn?" Telkarnith wondered.

Helkhar chuckled a little and shook his head, and nudged the vines back with his muzzle, revealing a narrow tunnel leading into the mountainside. The place was dark inside, and Telkarnith tried to follow the wolf carefully without stumbling along the way. The tunnel sloped upward steeply in places and turned around a couple times, to the point where he wasn't entirely certain just what direction they were going in any longer. Finally, however, they emerged into sunlight again.

Large, furry werewolves surrounded them, teeth bared and looking at them warily. They weren't all silver-colored like Helkhar. Most of them were gray or brown. Thalayal nervously slid down off Helkhar's back and hid behind him.

"What have you brought here, Helkhar?" one of the werewolves said. "You would bring outsiders to our caern?"

"These people are my pack," Helkhar replied. "This female is carrying my cub."

They turned their gaze briefly to the nervous young elven woman. "You overstep your place, Helkhar."

"I would not bring them here if I did not trust them completely," Helkhar said. "I will vouch for their conduct. They will bring no harm to you or the caern. May we speak with the elders?"

The werewolves grumbled for a few moments, but reluctantly stepped aside. "Fine. You may. But know that if there is _any_ trouble from _any_ of you, there will be harsh consequences."

"Thank you," Helkhar said. He shifted into human form and put an arm around Thalayal comfortingly as they headed away from the tunnel entrance and toward the valley. "I'm sorry about that. They're extremely paranoid about outsiders."

"I understand," Thalayal said. "I would be too, if everyone wanted to kill me for no good reason."

They were higher up into the mountains than Wishingsdale, and the air was cool and crisp, and a blanket of snow lay upon the ground. Although the year was growing old, the lower elevations hadn't seen much snow yet. Thorny vines lined the path leading up over a rise, and at the crest, he got a good look into the valley finally. It was lush and green underneath the frost, surrounded on all sides by steep slopes, with a small brook still trickling through it despite the cold. He was a little surprised to see solid stone buildings scattered about the valley. Two of the werewolves from the tunnel continued to come along with them, one leading and one following.

"Oh, this is a lovely place," Thalayal said. "So quaint and beautiful!"

Something about the place felt very much alive. It reminded Telkarnith of Aurora Core. The valley seemed vibrant and overflowing with vital energy. The group came down to the village, where there were children and cubs playing, who stopped to look wide-eyed at the strangers. They probably didn't see many people that they didn't recognize. Some of the youngsters in the village were human children, some were young wolf pups, and others looked like a scaled down version of Helkhar in his werewolf form. Shaznith reached out and waved playfully at the children.

As they made their way through the village, a man approached them. His hair was gray and he had a long scar across his face that might have been made by a claw, but despite his age he was still strong and muscular, and looked as though he could readily defeat Telkarnith in a fight any day.

"Alder," said their werewolf guide. "These outsiders came through the entry tunnel. Helkhar here claims them as his pack and wished to speak with you..."

"Be at ease, Timber," the old man said. "These ones are known to me, and they are welcome among us." He nodded to Telkarnith and said, "This one saved one of our own, and avenged the death of his mother, as well as bearing the mark of the horse lord." He looked to Jack, and said, "This one has brought about the deaths of many harbingers of darkness, and has never harmed one who was not corrupt."

"You know of me?" Jack said, raising an eyebrow. "You know, I think I'd really rather not be famous."

"Let's just say I have an eye on things, shall we?" Alder said, chuckling softly. "But come, come inside and make yourselves at home, and tell me what brings you to Thorn Valley Caern."

Alder led them into the large building in the center of the village, a meeting hall of sorts. Telkarnith might have thought it was some sort of old-style temple, but for the lack of the usual religious imagery. There was a firepit in the center of the room, with several chairs scattered haphazardly about. A small brown wolf was curled up near the fire, apparently sleeping, although he cocked an ear and opened an eye as they approached, but didn't care to move beyond that.

Telkarnith pulled off Shaznith's harness and set him down on the ground again. "Can I go play?" the little boy asked.

Alder said, "Don't worry, he'll be safe here."

"Alright, Shaz, you can go play," Telkarnith said with a small grin.

Shaznith giggled and scurried off outside. The sun was still high in the sky. It had only taken them a few hours to climb up here. Thorn Valley couldn't be more than ten miles away from Wishingsdale. It was practically on his doorstep the entire time, and Telkarnith had never realized it. He wondered what else they might have hidden away under his very nose.

"Have a seat," Alder said.

They took seats around the firepit. Thalayal let out a relaxed sigh as she took a load off her feet. Helkhar proceeded to explain to him what had been going on in Port Fins. The ghoul dogs, the vampire, the unfortunate accusations of werewolves killing people. Alder listened carefully, frowning deeply.

"You've drawn some unwanted attention to yourself," Alder said. "I can see why you'd want to make sure that your kin are safe. Be assured, no harm will come to them while they are here."

"Oh, and Thalayal can cook real well, too," Helkhar added with a grin.

Thalayal laughed. "Like I could keep up with all these wolves?"

Alder chuckled. Telkarnith was surprised at how she'd gone from being terrified of Helkhar, to pretty much taking this all in stride. But now, he had to think that she actually _liked_ being around all these furballs.

They settled in for the moment and were given rooms, and after seeing the sort of stew that was being made in the kitchen, Thalayal took up the suggestion of cooking. Most of the werewolves -- or Garou, as they called themselves -- didn't bother with cooking much. Telkarnith quickly realized that the majority of those he had taken for humans in the village were actually Garou. There were only a handful of non-shapeshifter humans in Thorn Valley, and they were all directly related to some of the Garou there.

Jack commented, "I've never seen so many shapeshifters in my life. I never thought I'd actually see a place like _this_. I knew they existed, somewhere, but to actually _be_ here -- and especially to be here and not be getting torn to pieces." He chuckled.

"Yeah," Telkarnith said. "I had no idea this was even here. My shaman teacher talked of sacred places hidden away from the world, in remote locations often far from civilization..."

One of the Garou, the one called Timber, came up to them and said sternly, "I've got my eye on you, strangers. And don't you dare lay a finger on any of the cubs, or I'll rip you to shreds myself."

"Don't worry," Telkarnith said with a sigh. "Besides, my own son is with them, you think I would intentionally put him in danger?"

"Just watch yourself, elf," Timber snarled, then stalked off.

* * *

The next morning, Telkarnith went to speak with Alder. There were many things that he was curious about, and he hoped that the man could answer a few questions for him. As he went to the common area, he looked over with amusement at the string of fuzzy cubs congregating around the kitchen.

"Good morning," Telkarnith said, giving the old man a polite bow. "If I might ask... what are they?" He indicated the cubs who looked like smaller wolf-men.

Alder chuckled softly. "I imagine you've never seen metis cubs before. They rarely leave the caerns until they can transform. They're the result of a mating between two Garou, and our pride and joy. While we try to mate with humans and wolves to get new blood coming in, these days, most of us are metis."

"Ah. I see," Telkarnith said. "Are there a lot of these caerns?"

"More than you'd realize, all over the world," Alder said.

"What about Aurora Core?" Telkarnith asked. "Is that a caern? This place feels a bit like that."

"Aurora Core is one of the most sacred and powerful places on Lezaria," Alder said.

"I didn't see anyone there, though," Telkarnith said in confusion. "Why would you leave it unprotected?"

Alder chuckled softly. "Aurora Core is better protected than we could ever hope for. You may not have seen anyone or anything, but be assured that you were seen and everything you did taken note of. While both we and the horses visit the site regularly, the only one who remains there permanently is the dragon, Khasadala Seer, who watches over the place with a careful eye."

"Khasadala Seer?" Telkarnith said, raising an eyebrow. "She actually exists? I always thought that was just a legend that my family came up with to make themselves feel important."

In his mind, he could hear the ancestral spirit in his sword laughing lightly at him. "She's my grandmother, you know," Zarnith said in his thoughts. "I could tell you all sorts of things about her if you ever asked."

"Oh, yes, yes she very much does," Alder said, chuckling again. "You are, indeed, dragonkin."

"So, what does that mean?" Telkarnith said. "Are there... were-dragons, then?"

"Of sorts, you might call them that," Alder said. "But while not every child born to wolf blood can shapeshift, even fewer of those born to dragon blood have that ability, as you might have observed. You would know better than I just how many kin you might have, and how many of those that you have seen who can transform into dragons."

"That would be none of them," Telkarnith said with a smirk. "Aside from Khasadala, who I hadn't even known was real. But it's possible?"

"I know of one," Alder said. "His name was Penthelnor. Perhaps a distant cousin or uncle of yours. He apparently did not even change until he was in his mid-twenties, and when he did, he was a very small dragon at first, little bigger than a horse. He hid out among us for a while, alone and afraid, before seeking out the other dragons. But as he grew older, he became corrupted, and the dragons exiled him. He was not welcome in the caerns any longer. He slunk off to live alone in the mountains, greedily hoarding treasures as his only company. Perhaps he lives still."

"I don't think I've ever heard of this Penthelnor," Telkarnith said.

"Probably just as well," Alder said. "Not the sort of role model that one would wish to emulate."

Telkarnith was about to ask something else, but Timber stormed into the building, snarling and growling. "Elf slime!" he exclaimed. "Your spawn is corrupting our cubs! I will not stand for this!"

"What's going on?" Telkarnith wondered.

"That spawn is trying to teach them... _elf_ games," Timber growled.

Alder sighed long-sufferingly. "Please calm yourself, Timber. This is no cause for alarm."

"I will eat you alive, elf!"

Alder said, "You will do nothing of the sort. Not eating the flesh of men includes elves, you are aware."

Timber growled a bit more, and then settled for, "You have insulted my honor!"

Telkarnith wondered in puzzlement, "What did I do?"

"I challenge you to a duel!" Timber snarled.

Jack had wandered into the room in time to hear that last, and said dryly, "Ah, how nice, it's not every day one gets to see a big, bad werewolf challenging an elf to a duel. This should be entertaining."

Alder buried his forehead in his palm and shook his head and sighed. "You need not accept or consent to this, Telkarnith."

Zarnith spoke in his mind, "I would suggest backing out. He is much stronger than you and would probably kill you."

"I will not back out," Telkarnith said aloud. "Tell me the rules and I will fight your damned duel."

Zarnith whispered, "You're going to get yourself killed. Bah, like any of my other descendents ever listened to me anyway."

"I am going to kill you!" Timber growled.

"Very subtle," Jack commented.

"At least take this foolishness outside," Alder said with a sigh. As Timber stormed out again, Alder attempted to explain how things were done to Telkarnith.

"Why the hell is he so angry at you, anyway?" Jack wondered.

"Damned if I know," Telkarnith said.

"Timber is originally from Three Rivers Caern," Alder said. "They take a much dimmer view of non-shapeshifters there."

"Where is that?" Telkarnith asked.

"Near Baynorthtown," Alder said.

"The ruined city?"

"That's why it's ruined," Alder said.

"I see," Telkarnith said, eyes widening a bit. "I have to ask... _did_ the shapeshifters bring about the fall of Albrynnia?"

"Not in the way you're thinking, I would imagine," Alder said. "But that's a very long story, and one for another time."

They went outside. Timber was pacing about, waiting for him impatiently. He'd pulled out a large, curved silver blade from somewhere and seemed quite eager to use it. A small crowd had gathered to watch. Telkarnith drew his own sword and faced the angry Garou.

"So you are here," Timber said.

"I am," Telkarnith replied.

"To the death, Telkarnith Chelseer!" Timber snarled.

"I'm not going to kill you, Timber," Telkarnith replied calmly.

"Of course not! You're going to die!"

Jack, standing off to the side a ways, jibed, "And that'll look real impressive on your resume, I wager."

"Be cautious," Zarnith whispered in his mind. "Use your speed and agility to your advantage."

Timber was upon him in an instant, and it was all Telkarnith could do to dodge and roll out of the way of his sword. For all his bulk, the Garou was more nimble than he appeared. One slip, and he didn't dodge quite fast enough, and the nasty blade bit into his left arm painfully.

"There, first blood, you've won then," Telkarnith said.

"No," Timber snarled. "I'm going to kill you."

"I'm not going to let you," Telkarnith replied.

Timber just laughed. "Good. Fight, you little pointy-eared man. Fight, if you can!"

Telkarnith didn't really want to have to kill this Garou, even if he _was_ trying to kill him, but nonetheless he fought. Ignoring the fact that he was bleeding, he ducked and dodged, and struck a clean sting with his sword into his opponent's shoulder.

"Gah," Timber growled. "That blade is silver! Where did _you_ get a klaive?"

Timber grew a bit more wary, but Telkarnith pressed his advantage, shifting abruptly from dodging to attacking and catching Timber off balance. Timber attempted to parry, only to have his blade knocked out of his hand. Then a swift slice at the Garou's legs had him on his back.

"Yield," Telkarnith said, pressing the point of his sword to the Garou's throat.

"No," Timber snarled softly. "Kill me."

"I will not," Telkarnith said. "You are not an evil being, Timber, and are not deserving of death. You sought to protect your own from what you perceived as a threat. I will not take your life for that, whether or not you would have shown _me_ the same mercy."

Timber stared at him for a long moment and rumbled, "You shame me. I... yield."

Telkarnith withdrew his sword and backed off, and put it away. "Now hold on a moment," he said quietly, leaning down to touch Timber's leg gently. He brought forth his healing powers to restore the Garou's wounds and make sure that there would be no permanent injury. It wouldn't do if the poor Garou ended up lame. Once that was done, he tended to his own wound similarly. It was a vicious cut, and had soaked his entire left side with blood, and would likely leave a long scar along his upper arm.

"You're a _healer_?" Timber said in surprise. "And after all that, you'd still tend to my wounds before your own?"

"I would rather heal than harm, given the choice," Telkarnith said.

Timber slunk off quietly, head low and tail between his legs. Ignoring the excited and seeming impressed crowd, Telkarnith headed back inside to sit down. Although he'd put on a good show, it had exhausted him beyond belief. He hoped Thalayal had something good to eat ready.

Jack followed, saying, "I can't believe you actually won that one. I was sure he was going to tear you limb from limb."

"Your confidence is reassuring," Telkarnith said dryly. "As well as your concern for my well-being."

"I say you got lucky," Jack said.

Alder said, "I, for one, am glad that you survived. You did yourself much honor this day."

"I'm going to need another shirt," Telkarnith muttered.

* * *

Telkarnith spent a while recovering after that. He had lost more blood and energy than he had realized during the fight, and for a while all he really wanted to do was eat and sleep. Once he was back on his feet and up and about again, he noticed that while the werewolves around the village seemed to treat him more respectfully, Timber was nowhere to be seen.

"What happened to Timber?" he asked Alder.

"He went back to Three Rivers," Alder said. "His dishonorable actions here might not haunt him as much there, perhaps. But some see it as cowardly running away."

"He was foolish, but I don't think he was a coward," Telkarnith said quietly. "At least I didn't have to kill him. I've had to kill enough people through no true fault of their own as it is."

Winter set in heavily, but despite the snows, the valley remained pleasant and hospitable nonetheless. It would be difficult to travel for a while, so they settled in for the time being as best as they could.

Thalayal particularly got on well with the Garou. One day when cooking, a young metis cub came in poking around. "Well, aren't you the cutest thing," Thalayal said. "Here, have a treat. Run along now, dinner will be ready soon."

As spring drew near, Thalayal's belly grew. When the winter snows began to thaw a bit, Telkarnith said to his friends, "I should head down to Roulden Trisa and see how Donna's doing."

"I'll go with you," Jack said. "Don't get me wrong, these furballs are great. They've even given me some pointers on dealing with leeches and corrupted shapeshifters. But I don't like staying in one place for too long, no matter how safe it supposedly is."

"I'm staying with Thalayal for the time being," Helkhar said. "I want to see what my cub will look like. Even if it's, you know, pink and hairless." He grinned. "You think you can find your way back here?"

"Think so," Telkarnith said.

"If we get lost," Jack said, "you'll just have to come pull our bodies out of some ravine we fell into."

The two of them headed down out of the mountains and toward the village of Roulden. The snows faded away as they returned to lower elevations again. Telkarnith found that, while he had been distrustful and uneasy about Jack at first, he was now quite comfortable around him, and could even call him a friend.

It was almost midnight before they arrived at the outskirts of Roulden Trisa, and to Marvel's farm. Winder came and answered the door, and said, "Hey, Tel! Come on in. Donna will be ecstatic to see you. How've things been going?"

Donna, heavily pregnant, roused from sleep at hearing Telkarnith arrive. She came up to him and kissed him passionately, and said, "You are _not_ leaving me behind again."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Telkarnith said.

"You are so doomed," Jack commented with a chuckle.


End file.
